As the Fire Burns
by Reiven
Summary: Currently undergoing intense revision.
1. Prologue Awaiting

_Standard disclaimer applies._

Takes place a few days after the end of **As the Ice Breaks.**

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**As the Fire Burns  
**_Part 1: Prologue - Awaiting_

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The sun was shining brightly in the sky, birds were chirping from the branches which they perched as a gently breeze ruffled the leaves in the large oak tree. A figure lay sprawled among the roots of the tree, his hands resting behind his head. His peaceful face did nothing to betray the array of emotions and trouble running through his mind.

It had just been one day since they've been back in Japan. Mr. Dickenson didn't think that it was such a good idea for them to extend their stay any longer, what with everything that's been happening. He booked a flight two days after the incident of the burnt down Abbey (the flight had been full the day after because everyone who had attended the World Championships were now heading back home.)

Rei sighed loudly and slowly pushed himself up to a sitting position. He leaned against the tree and eyes casting a woeful look up at the sky.

'_There are some days, that I just envy the clouds_,' he thought to himself as he studied the fluffy clouds. '_I bet they don't have a care in the world. They just float by, day by day_…_never having to worry about anything,' _he looked away. '_Look at me_…_talking about clouds. The guys would think that I had gone mad or something.'_

Rei's keen ears perked up as they picked up the presence of someone coming closer to him. He held back a smile when he recognized the familiar footsteps. "Hello to you too, Mariah."

Mariah's pink hair came into view. "Glad to know you're still as perceiving as ever, Rei," she smiled as she seated herself beside him, smoothing out her pink garments and brushing a strand of hair behind her ear. "What are you doing out here by yourself?"

"Just thinking," the raven haired teen looked away, expression somber.

"Do you want to talk about it? It'll do you good."

The appeal of the invitation nipping at his mind, it took Rei a full minute to consider her offer. He was never one in need of someone to listen, more often than not, he was the one doing the listening.

Exhaling silently, he looked away from Mariah, sharp cat eyes falling on the swarm of bees hovering around their hive just a few trees away from where they were. "I was like a dream come true at first. There we were, in Moscow, the beyblade capital of the world, and better yet, we were set to go against the number one team in the world. It was a thrill like I've never experienced before," a small smile played at his lips, "But then suddenly, it was like a derailing train, everything went crashing into the ground. First Kai betrayed us, stole your and the All Starz's bit-beasts, something I never thought he was capable of. Then when we finally make up, when he first comes to kind off consider us as friends, he almost dies. Tyson and Max were...I've never even seen them so depressed...then the whole thing with the Demolition Boys and Tala, _whom _I suspect has feelings for Kai--"

"What do you mean?--Ooh...How do you figure that?"

"Call it feline intuition if you want. And the little things I've seen between the both of them. I don't know about Kai, though. Anyway, then as if everything's not completely screwed up already, we find out that the evil and demented Boris Balkov, the mastermind behind all of this, is actually Tala's father. His _father _for heaven's sakes, Mariah. They look nothing alike! But during all of this fiasco, we discover that the Demolition Boys aren't such a bad bunch after all," running a hand though his hair, Rei concluded with a small sigh, "Now because of Boris, Kai's forgotten who we are, and the only person he does remember is dead...and the worst thing about it is...we don't know how to break the news to Kai."

Mariah reached over and massaged him gently on the shoulders. "No one's counting on you to keep a brave face, Rei. We're all friends, and we will get though this together."

"I suppose...By the way, how's Galux doing?" he inquired suddenly without turning to face her. His eyes remained closed in a peaceful manner.  
"She's fine," Mariah said happily, "still a little cold and catty, but fine."

"That's good," he allowed a smile to surface.

That stayed like that for longer, neither one getting the nipping feel of obligation to resume the conversation. For the moment, they felt enough comfort in the presence of each other to keep silent, instead, focusing their attention on two butterflies dancing in the wind until the stern voice of Lees' called them back for supper. It didn't seem like a long time, but in truth it was past sunset already and everyone had gathered in the living room for a friendly get together.

- - - - -

"Max?" Tyson poked his head through one of the open doors in search for his blonde friend. After being sure that there was no place the blonde could possibly be hiding, he moved on to the next destination. It took him a full seven minutes of searching before coming across his friend sitting quietly on a rock by the side of the pond. His bare feet dipped into the cool waters and still form illuminated by the bright glow of the full moon.

"Hey, Max," Tyson called out happily upon the discovery, "I've been looking everywhere for you," he walked over and took a seat next to his best friend.

He turned to look at the navy haired teen jogging up to his spot and replied with a grin of his own, "Hey, Tyson. What's up?"

"Nothing much...Just wondering where my best buddy in the world was hiding," swatting the boy on the arm in a playful manner, he lowered himself to a seat beside the Draciel master. Legs crossed and elbows propped up on his knees.

"Here, as you can see. I actually was wondering how it felt like to be bait," he muttered, staring at the fishes that had gathered around his toes, as if wondering what those strange creatures were and if they were edible.

"So...how does it?"

"Quite ticklish, really," he replied with a giggle when a fish nibbled at his toe.

A moment of silence went by, Tyson had cupped his chin in his palm was sat staring at the rippled in the water made by Max's moving legs, while the blonde half sat with his arms propped up behind him, eyes casting a look at the stars, "Hey, look," he pointed upwards suddenly, "It's the Big Dipper."

"Huh? Where?"

"Over there, don't you see? The dots, if you connect them."

"Isn't the Big Dipper located in the North?" he squinted his eyes, trying to make out the shape Max was drawing out in the air with his finger.

"Maybe...aren't we in the North?"

"I don't know...looks more like a bowl of mashed potatoes from where I'm sitting--no, wait...that's a roasted lamb with gravy on the side."

"Tyson," Max said in an exasperated tone, but at the same time, attempted to muffle the laughter in his voice, "You once thought _Rei _looked like a bowl of mashed potatoes with gravy. I don't know why I try," he punched his playfully in the shoulder before turning his attention back to the sky. "Do you think Tala's up there?"

Tyson's smile dropped slightly at the subject, "I don't know...maybe. But man, I can just imagine if one of the constellations was named after him. The Tala, leading all lost sailors further into misery before ending up a casualty of the edge of the world," he laughed at the image of Tala's constellation doubling over in laughter after having sent another sailor to his doom, a wicked gleam in the star that had taken shape of his infamous blue eyes.

"Oh, that's so true," Max joined in the laugh.

"But..." Tyson slowly coughed his laughter away until it was merely a sad chuckle, "What do you do you think would have happened if Mr. Dickenson had managed to prevent Tala from going back to the abbey?"

"Don't think about that, Tyson."

"Can't help it...it's just...Kai deserves to know."

Max didn't have anything to reply to that. The once playful glow that had momentarily returned to his eyes disappeared as quickly as it appeared. He didn't know what to say, even as he felt Tyson's body stir beside him before taking to his feet and walking away in the direction of the house. He stayed silent, dull eyes glued to the moon's reflection on the surface of the pond, and the rippled made by the fishes as they surfaced to catch what unsuspecting bug that fell into the water, seemingly having lost interest in his feet.

**- - - - -**

Kai sat against the windowsill in the room he was currently sharing with the others. One leg bent over the ledge while the other dangled on the side, the tips of his toes brushing against the floor. His left arms was folded and rested comfortably between his stomach and thigh as the other was propped against his knee.

The rest of the teams that had returned with them to Japan--partially to make sure that Kai was alright. They may not like him, but it didn't mean that they did not respect him; it was also due to Mr. Dickenson's request that they discuss their next move. Boris was out of control, having disappeared after setting fire to the abbey. The official reports may have stated that the fire was started by faulty wiring, but anyone who had ever crossed Boris' path knew otherwise.

At the moment, the members of all three teams, Mr. Dickenson and Max's parents had been relocated to a nearby hotel. Mr. Dickenson thought it was best for them to give Kai his space, for him to get re-familiarised with his teammates better and for the sake of his state of mind.

"Kai?" Tyson stuck his head on, eyes looking around for the object of his search. Having spotted the slate haired teen sitting at the window sill, his still form casting a tapering shadow into the empty training room, he walked in, and was still half surprised to discover that Kai seemed unaware to his presence. "Kai," he called out again, this time a little louder.

The familiar voice reaching his ear, Kai turned around to look at the person who had broken his concentration, and eyes came to rest on Tyson standing awkwardly near the door. Nodding his head in an offhanded greeting, he returned his gaze to the lawn.

Taking it as a sign that it was safe to precede, Tyson walked over to where his captain sat, trying hard to make as little sound as possible. "Are you all right, Kai?" he clasped his arms behind his back and looked towards wherever Kai was so transfixed by. "What are you looking at?"

Kai just shrugged his shoulders, seemingly uninterested in indulging in a conversation.

Tyson just smiled weakly, "Seems that old habits die hard, eh?"

Kai turned his blood-red orbs to him to the silent boy, "What do you mean?"

"Well...you were always like this, before. If you didn't want to talk with anyone, you'll just brush us off and walk away, scarf billowing. It would have been cool if it wasn't just so darn annoying."

"Was I such a bad person before?" he asked suddenly, eyes not lingering over Tyson.

Tyson, stunned by this unexpected question, just shook his head fervently, "No, I didn't mean it that way," he assured him. "You were a good person...just...distant."

"Why?"

"I don't know. Your past is a very mysterious one. I think the only people who really know are the De--err--nothing," he quickly changed his answer. No point bringing them into the subject if he didn't have to. "We never really knew very much about you."

Kai just nodded his head in understanding. "It's weird. It's like...there are some things that I know should remember, but I can't. Like there's this big wall standing in my path keeping me away from whatever is behind it and everything keeps on blurring in and out of sight, like some broken television set. The only thing that stays clear and distinguishable though out all this is the image of Tala. It's like his smirking face has forever been carved into my mind."

Tyson studied his silent captain for a long minute, mouth unable to say the words that are currently weighing down on his mind, he turned his eyes away, his heart heavy as to the issue he was about to break to his lost captain. "Kai--"

"When is he coming?"

"Who?"

"Tala...he said he'd be back," Kai looked away, recalling the conversation he had with the redhead just a few days ago.

Tyson stared sadly at Kai, unable to answer the question, or just afraid to see how Kai would react to the awful news.

"Tyson?" Kai looked inquiringly at the boy when he didn't receive a reply.

The Dragoon master looked into Kai's innocent red-eyes, which seemed to have lost the dangerous glow it had previously and seemed to be more crimson, than blood-red. His heart dropped into his stomach and he gulped before forcing a smile onto face. "I'm sure he'll be here soon," he smiled reassuringly at Kai.

A smile tugged at Kai's lips as he nodded.

At Kai's answer, Tyson felt even guiltier. He wanted to tell Kai that Tala would not be coming back, but he just didn't have the heart to. It would destroy Kai, and Tyson couldn't stand to see that. Tala meant a lot to Kai, it was obvious, if even Tyson noticed it.

_To be continued._

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I fixed a few grammar faults and redid most of the parts. It's nothing that contributes to the overall plot, it just seemed...better. 

Concerning what Ellen said...yes, chapter twenty-six's title was for two reasons. One; what she mentioned, the end of Tala's being a fiery one, and two; because Tyson was fighting Tala (represents fire) in the final match that would end the tournament, and the story. The title of this sequel also has a meaning, as did the last story.

Review.


	2. Returning

_Standard disclaimer applies._

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Part 2: Returning.

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The chirps of crickets were among the only sounds heard in the dead of the night. The gentle breeze that would pass through the tree suddenly caused an almost inaudible rustling sound and as the stray leaves were blown down from the branches, landing in a rippling mess below in the still waters. The light of full moon streamed into the dojo's training through the flapless window, casting an illuminating shine over the body occupying the last mattress. The body tossed and turned from left to right, the sweat poured down the side of his face, dripping onto the already damp pillow. His two toned hair sticking to his forehead and neck as the perspiration seeped into the material.

Somewhere in the background, unheard to the rest of the inhabitants, there was sudden tortured howl, and eyes once clenched tightly flew open to expose frantic red eyes. The pupils shrunken in fear and shock as his chest heaved in heavy breathing. There he remained, on his back, one hand tossed casually over his eyes to keep out the blinding light, at the same time to allow his mind to focus after the rather shocking awakening call.

It was that nightmare again, though again would have been a mild way to put it. Everyday, every single day ever since the day he'd heard about the abbey burning down, the same nightmare had been plaguing him. It was never exactly the same, but it all amounted to the same thing; Tala.

Finally regaining enough bearing to allow himself to sit upright, his eyes stared around at the mess of tangles limbs that was his --or so they had told him-- teammates. He could barely recall their names and had only managed to distinguish one from the other when coming face to face with them. The navy haired one, Tyson, seemed to have conquered two other roll out mattresses during the night, sending the blonde and the bespectacled one to the floor, curling up in the blanket on the cold, hard floor boards. It seemed that only Rei had escaped Tyson's domination.

Taking a deep breath, Kai took to his feet, making his was past the flailing limbs of the snoring machine a.k.a. Tyson and out the door, he inhaled deeply, absorbing the cool and clean air of the night. Running a hand through his tangled hair in an attempt to brush them out, he could not stop the barreling train that was the nightmare from crashing back into his mind. He cringed, a particularly tingle poking at the base of his neck as his ear picked up a pained and silent, almost imaginary;

"_Kai__…__" _

_- - - - -_

_Red eyes scanned the seemingly endless darkness. The thumps of his boots hitting floor resounded deafeningly in his ear with every step he took. He didn't know where he was, how he got there or even in what direction he was headed. But all he knew was the familiar tugging feeling in the pit of his stomach pulling him towards the far right, although, he assumed it was his right considering he could not make out his own hand as it was waved in front of his face._

"_Kai_…_"_

_The agony lacing those words struck a nerve in his brain sending him lunging forward, his feet trying to keep up with the amount of adrenalin his body was pumping._

_It seemed like an eternity of running when his eyes were caught by a large bright space ahead. Attracted by the heat and craving for light like a moth to a flame, Kai made a mad dash, only to come to a halting stop just a few feel away as if his body had had a run in with some sort of wall. His horror stricken eyes unable to tear themselves away from the blood splattering the floor and the insides of what seemed to be an invisible dome. _

_There was a muffled cry, causing Kai to throw up his arms to keep from being rained on by a shower of red, only to come to a realization soon after, that the barrier had kept it from coming into contact with his skin. But it had made the sight seem just that much gorier. Sparring the dyed wall no heed, Kai focused his eyes at the spot in the middle, maneuvering around the now dripping liquid, he managed to make out a slumped over form, crouched down on his knees, one arm stretched before him in attempt to keep himself upright, the other clutching a gushing wound on his abdomen. Red hair down stained a coppery brown falling over the down cast face, hiding the shadowed expression from view._

_Kai opened his mouth but found much to his horror that his voice seemed to have abandoned him. Clutching his throat desperately as the palm of his other flattened against the barrier, Kai could only look on helplessly as a willowy pale face lifted and blue eyes dimmed by pain and suffering locked onto his. _

_And out nowhere suddenly, and throaty growl blared, forcing Kai to clutch his ears to keep the deafening sound out, but to no avail. But then it suddenly stopped, before morphing into a sadistic laughter. The sound amplified by the floors, which Kai suddenly discovered to be made of metal and to add to the effect of the menacing sound...the ripping of flesh, sounds of blood gushing and splattering onto the floor before Tala's shocked and wide-eyes figure slumped forward, coming to an unmoving halt on the now crimson floor. His weakened head lifted up slightly, but enough to meet Kai's gaze, and a whimpering voice that would forever haunt Kai, left his bleeding and cracked lips._

"_Kai_…_help me_…_"_

_- - - - -_

'_Tala_…_'_ Kai locked a sad gaze at the sky, his eyes glued onto the brightest shining star. He didn't know why, but there was something about that particular star that triggered a memory in him. Whatever it was, Kai knew that something was not right, and it involved Tala. And one way or another, he will get to the bottom of it, even if he had to resort to extreme measures.

- - - - -

Meanwhile, somewhere in an uncharted underground laboratory in the outskirts of Russia, a group of scientists assigned to the BBA research continued their work. It had been days upon days of labouring over statistics and calculations, but they had their orders from the chairman, though personally, neither minded the work. They all were aware of the intentions of the BBA in this, and would help in anyway they could to catch that child abuser, Boris Balkov.

"What do you make of this, doctor?" a young doctor asked the white coat clad man beside him, one hand holding out a clipboard and the other pointing towards a section of the paper littered with small squiggles and numbers.

"I am not certain," after a moment of studying, he pulled back, finger tapping his chin in contemplation as his mind went over all the possibilities.

"If it is indeed what we think it is, perhaps it would be best if he called in the chairman. He might find this particularly interesting."

The other nodded his head in agreement, eyes running across the writing once more.

- - - - -

Back in the Bladebreakers lair, Tyson lay sprawled out on his stomach on the floor of the dojo, his head resting on his arms as we watched intently as Kenny typed away at his keyboard, recreating yet another possible upgrade for Dragoon. His fingers would once a while move to play with the pieces of his disassembled blade, only to get swatted away by Kenny's, accompanied by a disapproving look and the compulsory _'don't bother me while I'm working,' _he always got from the short boy.

Rei sat near the far side of the room; arms crossed over his chest and back rested against the wall. His eyes were closed and he seemed to be in deep thought over whatever subject he had taken it upon himself to worry about, while the source of all their worry was sitting cross-legged near the door, his attention fixed on a thick-covered book before him. Max, on the other hand, was nowhere to be seen.

"Anyone else have a sudden craving for seafood noodles?" Tyson inquired, partially to break the tense silence that had enveloped them, and for the rest, he _was _a little hungry; having eaten only two servings of pancakes for breakfast that morning.

"Anyone want some seafood noodles?" the sliding door was thrown open before Max bounced in carrying to steaming bowls of instant noodles. The Bladebreakers had always wondered about Max; he could out-run a cheetah on his sugar-highest days _while _carrying a glass of water without spilling a drop.

"Maxie!" Tyson shot to his feet and grabbed his blonde friend in a crushing hug, "You read my mind! It's no wonder that were the bestest of friends."

Settling down on the floor beside each other, the steaming cup presented before them, they broke of the two chopsticks and with a final cry of joy, sunk the two sticks into the cup, pulling out a big wad of hot noodles, rolled into a dripping clump. The tasteful aroma reaching their nostrils only making their mouths water even more. But as they were about to sink their teeth into the inviting food, the door was slid open with force for the second time that day, causing them to drop the wet noodles into their lap.

"Mr. Dickenson!" both cried out in shock, but mostly in pain as their jumped to their feet and quickly brushed off the hot strands of noodles off of their thighs.

"Pack your bags, boys," the plump old man panted out from his spot leaning against the door frame, "We have a flight to catch for Russia."

_To be continued._

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Changed the happenings in the dream sequence and mostly small scenes here and there. Nothing major. 

Review.


	3. Discovery

_Standard disclaimer applies._

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Part 3: Discovery.

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Tyson stared out the window of the airplane, lost in his thoughts and contemplating the reason they were returning to Russia. Had it something to do with Boris or the Abbey? Did it have to do with Black Wolborg? Or was it regarding…Tala? He shook himself out of those thoughts and returned to the present. Though his lap still ached from the heat of the noodles, Tyson pushed those thoughts to the very back closet of his mind and turned a woeful gaze towards his teammates.

'_Everyone's so down_. _Rei…Max…Kenny…_' his eyes fell on the figure of Kai who was sitting opposite him on the other end of the aisle. He had his chin cupped in the palm of his hand, elbow resting on the seat arm as his eyes stayed glued to the horizon. '_Kai…, who seems to be the most normal one in our team at this moment_,'he would have laughed had the situation not been so serious.

"Tyson?"

He was pulled out of his thoughts when Rei walked up and patted him on the shoulder.

"How are you doing?" He inquired, taking a seat and buckling himself next to the navy haired blader. Mr. Dickenson had chartered plane especially for them for this sudden trip to Russia, so besides the five of them, the chairman in question, the pilots and a few stewardesses, the plane was just about empty.

Tyson spared him a half-heartedly smile. "Not too bad…" he mumbled, looking away from Rei's piercing gaze, "Not too good either."

"You can't think about it too much, Tyson. There isn't anything that we can do to change what's happened, as hard as it is to accept, but it's the reality of the situation. The only thing we can do now is take things as they come, and try to help Kai get through this," Rei gave him a comforting pat on the shoulder, catching Tyson's attention once again, "Kai looks pretty calm about everything though."

"Err--" Tyson looked down, a wave of guilt washing up over him, "That's because I haven't told him yet."

"What?" the neko-jin raised a questioning eyebrow, "I thought Max said--"

"I know. I wanted too, but…he just looked at me, you know, he wasn't the same Kai that we knew and hated. He was just looked so innocent, wanting to know about Tala and...I just didn't have the heart to tell him."

"I understand, Tyson. And I shouldn't have made it seem like the pressure was on you to take up such a task. We should do it as a team. As the Bladebreakers."

"Guys…"

The sudden and almost whispered statement brought their attention to Kai, who looked as if he felt a little uncomfortable being under the scrutiny of these people he didn't know.

"I need to use the bathroom."

The both of them almost chuckled, but quickly suppressed it and pointed towards the curtain covered latrine situated near the stewardess section a few rows down the aisle and received a curt nod in response.

"See what I mean?" Tyson sighed, grabbing a fistful of hair, "It's like telling the little kid who wanted that Big Mac and cheese so badly that it was sold out."

"Don't you mean like telling _you _that the Big Mac and cheese you wanted so badly was sold out?" Rei couldn't suppress a chuckle at the expression that crosses his teammates face. But soon the laughter died, and he found his eyes trailing after the form of Kai who had just disappeared behind the curtain. Rei did notice the way his shoulders tensed up as his eyes looked around suspiciously at the empty seats, as if something would jump out and attack him at any moment.

"Maybe there's going to be some good news in Russia?" Max poked his head over Tyson's head-rest, joining in the conversation, "Maybe it's something concerning Tala," he flashed them an excited smile, but there was still a hint of sadness shining within them. Though he was never properly acquainted with the Russian team, he knew (at least from the last few days of the championships) that they were important to Kai, and whatever was important to Kai, was important to him. Same goes for the rest of the team.

"Boys."

Mr. Dickenson's plump form appeared from behind the door leading towards the cockpit and he slowly made his way towards where the four Bladebreakers were gathered. His ever present cane clunking in rhythm as they hit the floor with every step he took.

Taking a seat in the row beside Rei and Tyson, watching as Max hung halfway over their seats, legs dangling in the air and Kenny who was sitting sideways on the chair in front of them, his short legs hanging over the side and his leaned with both elbows in the seat arms, he gave an audible sigh.

"What are you talking about?"

Exchanging repentant looks among them, the Bladebreakers turned to their respected chairman, the same question lingering on all their thoughts, though it was Max who spoke it aloud.

"Why are we going to Russia, Mr. Dickenson?"

"I am not quite sure about that myself, lads. I had just received a call from Olaf, the head of the Russian BBA research center early that morning. The only thing he informed me was that a Dr. Petrov had requested my presence as soon as possible, quoting new findings. He did not elaborate on it though."

"Do you think it concerns…"

"Could it be possible that he's still alive?" Rei had a peculiar feeling in his gut, but he managed to quench it. Unfortunately, neither of the people present noticed the silent figure creeping up behind them.

"I truly can't say. But I find it highly doubtful. When the BBA special units entered the building, they had discovered a few singed strands of red hair among the burnt ashes of, what is assumed to be a person; the body was too badly burnt to even be considered for identifying. Even trying to determine the gender is a feat considered impossible. No. I for one fear that young Tala--"

The was a sharp intake of breath and the sound of metal seat legs being knocked into and five pairs of eyes snapped around to lock into Kai's shocked gaze.

"Kai…" Tyson gaped.

"Tala…is dead?" the slate haired boy inquired, bangs falling over his eyes, shadowing them from view. His voice was a mere whisper but the spite within them cut through them like a knife.

"Kai," Rei immediately unbuckled his seatbelt and shot to his feet, walking towards Kai with an arm outstretched, as if calling for him to calm down. "We wanted to tell you, Kai," he started, "But…"

"But we didn't want to upset you," taking a stand behind Rei, Tyson backed up his friends answer, "Please believe us, Kai."

"Tala is dead…" Kai repeated, his gaze was turned away from them. This time, it wasn't said as a question, more of a confirmation to himself. He ignored Mr. Dickenson's hand on his shoulder in a comforting gesture, nor did he pay any heed to their words. What mattered was…nothing mattered anymore as far as Kai was concerned.

"I am regretfully sorry, Kai. But--"

Without looking up to face them, Kai raised his own hand and swatted the mans pudgy ones away from his shoulder in an act of contempt. When Kai finally raised his head, the four people facing him could swear that they say a flash of pass through his eyes, but brushed it off as the rage currently being emitted by Kai's aura. "Stay away from me," he growled, glaring at them one last time before turning on his heels and stalking off, scarf billowing behind him.

"Kai!" Tyson was about to run after him, but Rei stopped him with a hand on his shoulder.

"Let him be, Tyson. He needs his space."

Tyson could only nod his head. Deep down he knew that he could do nothing to help Kai, or comfort him in anyway. They had been given their one chance, and they blew it. Now it would probably be impossible to get him to trust them ever again, especially in his current state.

They had not realized at the time, with their attention being too preoccupied with the matter at hand, but if they had only glanced over to the duffle bag belonging to Kai, they would have noticed a dim red light shining from inside one of the pockets.

----

The flight had been long and dragging, it had just been some hours in reality, but it seemed like an eternity. Kai had completely disappeared; Tyson would have snorted at the irony that Kai could lose them in a plane, but it was nor the time nor the place. This had caused tension within the team. Max had reverted to his silent self, and that alone was unnerving. Rei had taken the farthest seat in the plane and sat brooding there the whole day. Kenny sat with Dizzy as usual, typing furiously into her keypads about something that Tyson could only begin to imagine. Mr. Dickenson didn't know what to do, so he just stayed in his seat, silently observing the team and wondering how things had gotten so messed up. Tyson didn't know what to do, and for once in a long time…he had lost his appetite.

----

They had reached Moscow in the middle of the night and it was too late to catch Dr. Petrov, so they retired to the hotel room Mr. Dickenson had booked for them. From the moment they stepped through the door of their hotel room, Kai had ditched them and walked straight into the room far left and shut the door behind him. There he stayed, until now.

Whereas they had thought the tension in the plane to be bad, it was worse in the van they'd taken to the hotel. Kai had blatantly refused to acknowledge their presence and sat alone near the window, staring out at the surrounding while lost in his thoughts.

They had tried to apologize to him, countless time. Max, Rei…all of them, but Kai only just once gave them a withering glance. His eyes glinted with distrust and betrayal at the sight of them; the trust he had put in the team since the incident had completely evaporated into thin air. Before Kai turned his attention away from them, they could not help but see a glimpse of sadness shining back though the blood-red orbs.

Tyson rested his head on his knees as he leaned against the large window of the room. His breath clouded the clear glass, the only thing shielding him from the freezing snow raining down on the other side.

While in the other room, Kai sat in the same position with his forehead leaning against the cool glass, looking up into the sky, where the stars dwelled. He and Tala used to spend hours on the rooftop of the Abbey, looking up at the bright stars. Back then they were young and everything seemed so simple. They looked at the world in a different way that they do now; innocence clouding their judgment. But all that would change as the years flew by and they had spend more and more time being molded to perfection by Boris.

Then they grew up…and apart. The five of them used to be close, like brothers bonded in all but by blood. Bryan, Ian, Spencer, Tala and himself…they were always there to watch each other's back. Bryan grew colder with all the experiments that had been done to him. Spencer and Ian…they just lost the things that they used to have in common, and Tala…he had probably been there longer than any of them. When Kai came to the Abbey, he was already a notorious name among the students. The final three came a few years later.

As the years passed, Kai noticed the little changes in Tala; the way he looked at him. The excitement in his eyes that would resurface suddenly at the most unexpected moments, but most of the moments had one thing in common…Kai. Slowly it started to sink into him that Tala had changed. His feelings had changed. In the Abbey, with one hundred percent of the students were male; it was not strange that one would start to develop feeling for another. Most of the time, it was just for the lust and craving for sexual contact. Sometimes, it was because loneliness was taking its toll, but the majority of the time it was just an action to fulfill one's own desire; it had nothing to do with the feelings of other people. The boys of the Abbey were trained to always look out for number one.

In Tala's case, it was different. Kai knew that he was developing feelings for himself, and that scared him, not for himself, but for Tala. One could only imagine what Boris would do to Tala is he found out and Kai would not let that happen. He had told Tala about it, and surprisingly, he took it very well. It didn't stop the incessant flirting that followed through the years. Tala said it was all in the name of fun and Kai would have loved to believe him, but somewhere deep in his heart, he knew that Tala wasn't mocking, but with much struggle, he managed to brush it off.

"_You're one hell of a sexy blunette, Kai."_

Kai shook his head from the thought. Somehow, the thought of Tala helped trigger some of his memories. He smiled sadly to himself. _'Why, Tala…did you have to go without me?'_

- - - - -

The next day, they all rose early, eager to get to the bottom of the mystery of why they were called to Russia.

Rei, with much hesitation, walked to Kai's door and knocked on it softly, calling him out. Kai opened the door a few seconds later, eyes scanning the room thought not actually paying attention to anything, least of all the inhabitants. Without a parting word or glance, the trudged out, leaving the four silent boys cold in his wake.

It took about an hours drive from their hotel to the almost uninhabited parts of Russia's outskirts where the BBA laboratory stood, towering over the dead, almost haunted trees.

The ever energetic Max could barely control his enthusiasm, even though he didn't know if the impending news would be good or bad. There was just something about the prospect of the unknown that made his stomach flutter with excitement.

"Mr. Dickenson, I presume?" It was half way through the endless corridors and metal doors that they encountered the scientist (they assumed him to be one of the people involved in bringing them there) their suspicions were not unfounded, though.

"Yes, and I assume you are Dr. Petrov?"

"Indeed."

Nodding slightly, he motioned for them to follow him as he led the confused teens towards the far end of the desolated hall, where a pair of ominous doors stood. The Bladebreakers vaguely wondered whether towering doors were some kind of a custom to Russia, since they swore the abbey had the exact same kind.

"The reason I called you today is because my colleagues and I had run some tests on the strands of hair found by the BBA at the burnt down abbey as per-instructed by the federation. Having been authorized by you, I presume," at the old man's agreeing nod, he continued. "And whereas we had originally set out to perform the basic tests; DNA testing, to confirm the gender, age-group and sex of the person it belonged to, we'd found something even more interesting."

"What do you mean?"

"I too am familiar with the Demolition Boys, especially the captain, Tala Ivanov--my children are very fond of him--and of what little knowledge of him, I am quite certain that he is a natural redhead."

"I don't mean to interrupt, Doctor, but truthfully, I am not quite certain where this conversation is headed."

"Of course, I apologize. Now, the findings came about quite coincidentally, seeing as I would not be able to name one person in this place who would have even thought to check for this, but during one of our earlier tests, we accidentally came across a substance that is not commonly found in the hairs' natural components, therefore, unless he wears a synthetic hair piece--"

A couple snorts followed the comment, regardless of the grim situation.

"--We are positive that there is a ninety-nine percent chance that the hairs found at the scene did not belong to Mr. Ivanov."

Like a video set in slow motion, the shadow of dread that had taken residence in their hearts casually lifted. One by one, the set faces broke into a smile that had been absent for a while.

"So...what was the stuff you found?" Tyson enquired, arms thrown good-naturedly over Max's shoulders, eyes glinting with celebration.

"It is one called, Cocamidopropyl Betaine," the doctor answered, straightening the collar of his lab coat. "It is a chemical commonly found in hair dye."

At that exact moment, they cheering in the room stopped abruptly and attention was once again directed to towards the doctor.

"Hair…dye?" Tyson repeated absentmindedly. "Red…hair…Boris…_Sacha!_"

_To be continued._

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I took all of Kai's pansy-assed-ness, stuffed it in a marked envelope and sent it off to Trinidad and Tobago (love that name). Now Kai is more like his kick-ass usual self except that he has amnesia and some hidden homo agendas. But once again; not shounen-ai.

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	4. Memories

_Standard disclaimer applies._

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Part 4: Memories.

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_A thunder of footsteps, reverberating against thick, brick layered walls. From the sound, frantic thumping and amount, when considering the time lapse between each step, it was obvious that there were more than one pair of feet. Desperate heaves of breath and hiccoughed sobs followed the thundering shouts and a woeful cry pierced the air. _

_- - - - -_

Kai tossed and turned in his sleep; sweat beaded on his forehead as his body shuddered with every breath he took.

_- - - - -_

_A fiery red flashed through the desolated hallways, a lumbering figure trudging heavily after it._

_The click as a guns' security lock was unfastened._

_Kai eyes shot up at the sound, only to stare back onto the hollow barrel of a gun. _

_A loud, deafening bang broke him out of his initial shock and everything faded to black as his hearing caught onto the frantic shout of;_

"_Sacha!"_

- - - - -

Kai shot up out of bed, his chest heaving as his lungs pumped in oxygen at full speed. He raised his hand to wipe the perspiration that had accumulated on his forehead, at the same time feeling his skin somewhat hotter than usual. '_What was that_?' The question rang around in his head, but it found no answer because at that very moment, he felt a sudden and throbbing pain in the back of his neck. It did not last long though and as the feeling subsided, he took to his feet and towards the door. Feeling the need from fresh air to recover from the dream, he grabbed his coat and walked out the glass window that separated the room from the cold veranda.

This had been the first dream he's had in a while. The last one had been the one at the dojo, the night before he discovered that Tala had died. '_But he didn't_,' Kai reminded himself, '_It was another person…Sacha…the boy, from the dream…'_

_-- "Autopsy discovered that he had died before the fire started," The scientist said, staring straight at the team and Mr. Dickenson, "It was caused by a shot in the back of his head from point black range." --_

He raised his hand to his forehead in thought; his eyes however, stared blankly off into space. _'The others looked upset when they heard the news. I wonder if they knew him,' _he took a deep breath and too a seat on the balcony ledge of the hotel they were currently staying in. His body unfeeling the cold of Russia as his mind replayed his thoughts over and over; all while pondering whether he should tell the other about the dream he's had. But would he have to tell them about all the other dream's that had been haunting him in the past?

He slid off the cold rail and went over to the table set that was in the middle. He pulled the coat tighter around himself and leaned back in the seat. He did not know how long he had stayed like that as the cool blew over him and the soft moonlight reflected over the shiny surface of the table. Before he knew it, darkness had taken over him and he found him falling back into a peaceful slumber, unknowing whether he would be haunted by another memory or nightmare of his friend.

- - - - -

The sun rose slowly over the horizon, showering the landscape with its warmth as it signaled the beginning of a new day.

Golden eyes cracked open as the first stream of light reached his face. Rei sat up from bed stretching his limbs as his mouth opened large with a yawn, baring his canine fangs to the world. He reached his arm back to scratch the back of his neck and smooth back his hair, which was quite a futile action as Tyson had so graciously pointed out one morning. He was referring to the fact that Rei's hair was never out of place, not even in the morning when he had just woken up from sleep.

Rei looked over his shoulder towards his still sleeping (and snoring) teammates. He couldn't hold back a snigger when he caught sight of the queen size bed, which was shared by Tyson, Max and Kenny_…_well…was _previously _shared by them.

Tyson had somehow managed to roll a few feet to the left in his sleep and right onto Max's place. The other boy now lay on the cold and hard floor after being kicked off by Tyson, who had also taken control of his blanket.

Rei then looked over to Kenny, and as expected the other boy lay on his side in the while clutching Dizzi close to his chest. He shook his head slowly and glanced over to Kai's bed, but was half surprised to find it empty. If it had been the old Kai, he wouldn't have spared a second glance, but it was different now; and judging by the messed up condition it was in, it didn't seem like Kai had woken up on the good side. He would have made up his bed if he had.

Rei took to his feet, folded the blanket neatly on the bed before walking out in search of his captain.

- - - - -

He had only just partially opened the slide door to the balcony before he spotted his captain lounging in the chair, asleep. Rei had to snicker at the too cute scene before moving to leave his captain to his slumber. Never once in any of this that he considered the fact that Kai could catch a cold sleeping out there in winter. It was just the knowledge of Kai being immune to any sort of mortal sicknesses that had been drilled into his brain ever since the beginning. Instead, he grabbed one of the blankets that had been carelessly thrown over the back of the sofa in the living room and returned outside to cover Kai with it.

He stopped in his actions for a second when Kai stirred slightly and mumbled out something incoherent. Curious, he leaned in closer to listen and managed to catch a couple of words.

"Tala…chip…abbey," his tone took a more alarmed pitch as his eyes squeezed shut and he gasped out, "Black Dranzer," before his eyes shot open and he lunged forward, not noticing Rei standing in front of him until he bashed his forehead into Rei's.

Both reeled back in shock and in pain, clutching their red foreheads protectively.

"Rei!" Kai said aloud after finally noticing the raven-haired neko-jin, "What are you doing here?"

"Well," Rei rubbed his head, "I woke up a few minutes ago and saw that your bed was empty. And…well…I found you here and didn't want you to catch a cold. So…" he blushed.

Kai looked down a noticed the fluffy blanket that covered him. Nodding his head simply, he muttered an almost inaudible; "Thanks_…_"

"No problem. So_…_" he pulled out one of the other chairs and took seat, winching slightly as the cold temperature of the wood made his bottom tingle, "What kind of dream were you having?"

Kai looked up at Rei in mild surprise, "You heard?"

"It's pretty hard to not hear the Tala, chip, Abbey and Black Dranzer part with the volume you were mumbling," Rei secretly sweat-dropped, leaving out the part where he had practically stuck his head up Kai's nostril with the way he was eavesdropping.

Kai diverted his eyes. After a few seconds of contemplation, he finally blurted out, "Tala has feelings for me."

Rei raised his eyebrows at Kai's unexpected words. He smiled and said; "I know," breaking the silence that had enveloped them.

"You…how?"

"Well…" Rei grinned and scratched the nonexistent itch on his jaw. "It's pretty obvious if you ask me. The way he looks at you and stuff."

Kai sighed and nodded his head, "I told him a lot of times that I…" he looked away, "But he never listens. Sometimes he says that he's joking when he flirts, but I know it isn't. He's my friend and I love him, but…"

"Not like that?"

"Yeah."

"Tell me about him."

"What?" Kai raised an eyebrow at the slight change of subject.

"About Tala. I mean, I know he's the captain of the Demolition boys and stuff, and all the other things I've heard. But I'm sure no one knows him as much as you do," Rei smiled, holding out and imaginary microphone in his hand and pushed it close to Kai's face. "Tell me something about the infamous Tala Ivanov."

"Well_…_" he started, "I…I…someone threw me into a cold room and he was there, sitting on a bed. His eyes staring straight back at me," Kai said in a monotone voice; it was as if he was reading from a script instead of recalling his own memory.

"At the abbey?"

Kai thought the question for a long moment. "I…I'm not sure."

Rei shot Kai a sympathetic look, "It's okay, Kai. It'll all come back."

"What if it doesn't? What if I never get my memory back and you, the others…the Demolition Boys… what if I can't remember my past, who I am… then, who am I?"

"Don't give up hope, Kai. Look on the bright side, you remember Tala, right? There must be something about him that triggers memories that are locked up in your mind. When we find Tala--we will find him, I'm sure you'll be able to regain your memories."

"But…if it doesn't?"

"Then we'll just have to make new ones."

Kai raised a questioning eyebrow at Rei's answer.

"All the things we do and say, they just remain with us though the years, some stick out more than others. Take Tyson for example. He sticks out like a sore thumb in a bowl of mashed potatoes, is there a chance of you forgetting him anytime in the near future? Probably not_…_okay, so that was pretty lame. It's a proven fact that I'm really, _really _bad at giving advice and reassurance. But just know this, Kai, no matter what happens, the Bladebreakers will always be behind you. We will find Tala, whatever it takes, and when we do, I'm sure everything will be back to normal. Now let's get some shut eye. Tomorrow we'll be going to visit Bryan and the others, and trust me, you'll need the rest."

"I'll be right there."

"Okay then," Rei nodded, sliding close the door for Kai to have his privacy.

Kai took a deep breath and stood up from the chair. He walked over to the rail of the balcony; placing his hands on the cold stone and stared out at the city of Moscow. _'Normal…'_ Kai leaned against it and felt an object in his pocket. He reached his hand in and took it out, staring at the black blade with darkened eyes. _'Things will never be normal…'_

_To be continued._

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	5. The Apperance

_Standard disclaimer applies._

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_Part 5: The Appearance._

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"Tyson!" Rei banged on the door, shouting out the name in irritation, "Get your butt out here, if not we'll miss the taxi." 

"No!" the muffled voice came from within the closed doors.

The shouts caught the attention of the Kai who was in the midst of getting dressed. He walked out of the room, confusion written all over his face, his hands were frantically in the process of tying the knot of his scarf. He gave up after a few tries and just let it hang over his shoulders as he went over to Rei. "What's going on?"

"It's Tyson," Rei exasperated, "he said he won't go to see the Demolition Boys. He mentioned something about facing the wrath of Bryan or something."

"Why would Bryan want to do something to him?" Kai raised an eyebrow, amused.

"No reason. I'm not saying that he wouldn't, given the chance," He looked at the back of door through half lidded eyes. "In this case, I'd gift-wrap Tyson myself and hand him to Bryan on a silver platter," he muttered spitefully under his breath and turned his attention to the snickering Kai. "You hear me, Tyson!"

"What is wrong with Bryan anyway? He sounds like some kind of…"

"Homicidal murderer?"

"Well…" Kai shrugged.

"Having trouble with your scarf, Kai?" Rei noticed the white cloth on his shoulder, hanging over the black tee shirt he was wearing.

"Huh? Oh," he grinned sheepishly. "Yeah. I have no idea how I did it before. I got it right once, but the tail was too long and I almost choked myself with it."

Rei couldn't hold back his laughter at the mental image. "I know. I almost killed me with it once too."

"What happened?"

"Well--"

What actually happened to Rei on that fateful day, Kai didn't find out, for at that exact moment they heard the sound of glass breaking and the voice of Tyson yelping in pain.

"He's trying to get out through the window!" Rei gasped and rushed towards the window of the room, leaving Kai standing dumbfounded in his wake.

A few seconds later, Max walked in, grasping firmly in his hand a big stick of lollypop. "Hi, Kai," he beamed, "What's all the commotion about?"

"Umm…I think Tyson's trying to make his getaway. For some reason or another."

"Poor guy really doesn't want to meet the Demolition Boys, does he?" Max snickered, "Hey, you look different today."

"I can't seem to get this scarf tied on properly. Most of the time it's either too tight or too loose," he glared at the cloth in hand.

"Well…" Max licked his rainbow coloured candy, "Why don't you not wear it then?"

"I don't know, maybe…well, Rei says it's something like my trademark, and…I don't know, it just feels like, maybe if I wear it, it'll bring me closer to being the person I was before."

"Honestly," Max said bluntly, "I kind of like the person you are now. Of course not the losing all memory part. The…well, your attitude and personality. The old Kai would never be standing here, talking to me like this while holding his scarf in hand and forgetting to put on his pants."

Kai's eyes darted towards his bottom half and widened. "No wonder it felt a little chilly down there."

Max laughed, "Like that! You never would have said things like that before. It would always be '_hn' _or '_whatever' _and you'd walk off. So, you want a hand or something?"

Kai just shrugged, "Sure, it can't be any worse than what I've already done."

"Kay!" Max hopped over to Kai, grabbed him by the hand and dragged him towards the sofa where they took a seat and motioned for the slate haired teen to sit on the floor.

"I met Rei before; I wonder why he didn't mention the pants thing?"

"Ah. I bet Rei has a thing with looking at you without pants on," Max grinned

"Seriously."

"Well," Max closed his eyes in contemplation. "He does seem kind off girly at times, and what self respecting guy would use Pantene Pro Active shampoo against dandruff and discoloration? Look at Tyson, I bet he doesn't even know what shampoo is."

"Makes sense"

"What makes sense?"

The two of them turned abruptly at Rei's voice, seeing him headed towards them with a fuming Tyson in tow.

"Oh, nothing," Max whistled and looked away distractedly.

Rei looked to Kai for an answer but the boy just shrugged his shoulders and looked at the floor, letting the Max fix his scarf for him.

"O-kay…" Rei studied them with a glare, sensing something not right about them, but eventually he brushed it off. "C'mon, the taxi's been waiting for a long time," he dragged Tyson towards the door by his collar.

"What part of 'I don't want to go' didn't you understand, Rei?" Tyson glared at him.

"The part where I let you _not _go," Rei answered simply, "Now stop whining, Tyson. What's so bad about checking up on Bryan and the others anyway?"

"I…" Tyson stuttered out the words, a blush slowly creeping onto his cheeks, "I-I just…I'm not going!" He shouted and grabbed onto the sofa with all his might.

"Tyson," Rei rubbed his temples and sighed exasperatedly.

Max sweat-dropped at Tyson's behavior. His eyes glanced over at the indifferent Kai and grinned. He leaned over and whispered into Kai's ear, earning a nod from the teen when he finished.

The both of them stood up from their seat, Max having finished with Kai's scarf, and waltzed over to Rei who seemed like he could have murdered Tyson at that moment.

"Tyson," Kai walked up and stopped in front of the navy-haired boy.

Tyson looked up to Kai, his eyes widened slightly at the sad look on his captains' face.

"Why won't you come? I want to see Bryan and the others, maybe it'll help me get my memory back," Kai said sadly, looking a way from Tyson as his eyes seemed to shine with unsuppressed emotions.

Tyson looked at the ground, guilt building up in him at the sight of his saddened friend. He took a deep breath and let go of the chair, "C'mon, guys," he motioned towards the door.

Rei just smiled and nodded his head, beckoning them out of the hotel room.

Max and Kai were the last ones to exit and shared a small high-five with each other.

As they closed the door to the room, Rei looked at Kai, noticing the slight change, "New scarf style, Kai?"

Kai looked back to see the usual tail of his white scarf multiplied, there were two, "Max tied it for me."

"Nice," Rei nodded and smiled as they walked off towards the awaiting taxi, "It works for you."

- - - - -

Icy blue eyes surveyed the surrounding as it freed itself from the confining darkness. The filthy walls and rusted bars enclosed him, keeping him prisoner from the outside world. His eyes lingered for a moment, staring at the marks on the walls that seemed as if they had been made by nails of a human, desperate in clawing their way out, leaving the smell of sweat and blood lingering in the air.

The only comfort he found was in the dank floor that served as a bed for him. Though, it gave him to protection against the cold and the hard surface that irritated his wounds.

He painfully rolled himself onto his left side, taking the pressure off of his sore back. The wound inflicted by the venomous claws of Black Wolborg hadn't healed. It seemed as it there was some kind poison hidden within the rotten core of its talons that prevented open wounds from creating new tissues needed to mend the skin. The pain was still there, even after…Tala didn't know. Times passed by the same where he was held. He didn't know day from night for there was no windows and ever dampness of the atmosphere was a sign that he was probably held underground.

How long he had been there, he didn't know. All he knew that he felt drained, like there was no strength in his body for even the simplest task such as sitting up. He hadn't eaten anything the whole time, yet he felt no hunger. He drank very little water that the guards fed to him a few times, but he was not thirsty. The fact that he was still alive was a testament to the fact.

He realized when Boris would come; the aura that radiated from his soul was as much indication as if he would shout out his name into Tala's ear. Every time Boris paid a visit, Tala would feel the sting of a needle as it was injected into the back of his neck; the pain was unbearable, yet he did not cry out. He could not cry out. It was as if the suffering was one that he only felt on the inside.

There was no Bryan there to be his usual smart-ass self. He had always amused Tala with his ability to piss the hell out of Boris at the drop of a pin. Ian and Spencer weren't at his side to distract him with their ability to piss Bryan off. Most importantly, Kai wasn't there; the one person whom Tala would trust with his life as he had many times in the past. Kai would always be there have his back and vice-versa. If Tala was in trouble, Kai would be there to help him, get him out. But this time, Kai wasn't there to bail him out.

He was all alone.

_To be continued._

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Review. 


	6. Victimising

_Standard disclaimer applies._

xD;; I actually did forget to have Kai put on his pants. Thanks to all who noticed.

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Part 6: Victimizing.

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The Bladebreakers--after much distraction and hindrance--finally managed to make it to the hospital where the members of the Demolition Boys were being treated. However, it was not before they realized that the obnoxious behavior of Tyson and his hesitation to come face to face with the abbey boys, had managed to make Kai forget to put on his pants. So half way down the lift he had to turn back and run back to the room to fetch his missing piece of clothing.

Tyson had found the event to be hilarious and it seemed to Max and Rei, that he would not be forgetting it anytime soon. He was Tyson after all, and they're sure that it would be the sole cause for an almost imminent blackmail reason if ever Kai tried to force him to do anything he didn't want too. Max and Rei had been pretty biased about the whole thing, although they had a pretty hard time controlling their laughter.

Kenny on the other hand, was torn between joining them in their amusement and letting his mind wonder off to his future execution by a furious Kai; the image of Kai standing above him in his black executioner's robe, eyes blazing and an aura of death and darkness surrounding him was enough to make Kenny cringe where he stood.

Kai had joined them moments later, fully dressed and an evident blush across his cheeks.

They took the taxi to the hospital. It wasn't an exceptionally pleasant ride seeing as the driver kept on mumbling something in Russian under his breath. Neither of them (with the exception of Kai) understood Russian but they figured that he was swearing something very colourful, judging by the heated glares he would shoot at them once and a while. Kai kept quite the whole ride, leaving them to wonder whether he had forgotten how to speak Russian when he lost his memories; the almost forced nonchalant look he had on his face and the tug of a smirk at his lips told them otherwise.

"C'mon, guys," Tyson pleaded with them, eyes wide, "Can't we talk about this? I mean, why would the Demolition Boys want to meet me anyway? I did defeat them and became world Champion. I'm sure they have something evil and sinister in mind for me."

"Your definition of team really amazes me, Tyson," Rei glared at him through half-lidded eyes. "I'm sure they're as surprised by it as I am to know that you single handedly won the World Championship too. I guess we all are just chopped liver."

Max snickered at the look Tyson shot at the neko-jin.

"I think you shouldn't room with Kai anymore, Rei, you're turning into him."

"Hey!" Max exclaimed suddenly, a wide grin on his face, "I have an idea. Since Rei now acts like Kai, and Kai's now a nice guy, like Rei. How 'bout you start dressing up as Kai (he pointed at Rei) and you as Rei," he turned to Kai, "That way, we'll still have a stoic and sarcastic captain and we won't have to put up with hairballs in the sink in the morning anymore," Max laughed and ducked out of the way from Rei's oncoming hand.

Tyson burst out in laughter and put his hand to the wall for support. Even Kai, in being one of the people in question, could barely hold back the tug at the side of his lips.

Max took cover behind Kai and held up the two fingered V sign. "Peace, dude."

Rei just rolled his eyes, but there was a playful smile on his face, "C'mon, guys. We don't want to stand around here all day."

"Wanna bet?"

The rest of them just ignored Tyson and walked over to the front desk of the hospital to enquire the room where the Demolition Boys were. There they met with the same bitter old nurse that had been there when Kai was admitted. At the sight of the teens, her face twisted into one of distaste.

"Ma'am?" Rei said after a moment of hesitation. The angry look she was shooting at them unnerved him a little, "Umm…which rooms are the Demolition Boys in?"

She looked down at him for a while and pointed towards one of the entrance doors to their left. "Three," she said simply and walked off, not allowing them a chance for a thank you.

The teens just shrugged their shoulders and walked in the direction she had showed them.

"What's crawling up her butt?" Tyson said.

"Who knows? The mind of a woman is indeed a very complicated and intriguing one," Max crossed his hands over his chest and closed his eyes, much like Kai would do after a very intelligent comment.

"Woman? Decrepit old bat is more like it," Tyson said suddenly before turning to Max, "Hey, when did you become so metaphorical?"

"My dad used to say it."

"I think the better question, Tyson, is when did you learn the word metaphorical?" Rei looked interestedly at him.

"It was on some discovery channel series about butterflies. Apparently they go through a process called metaphoric before they become adult butterflies."

An eerie silence filled the halls as the four Bladebreakers looked at Tyson wordlessly, sweat-drop on their heads.

"Err…" Kai spoke up for the first time, "Don't you mean metamorphosis?"

"…"

"…"

"…" Tyson stared back at them, "So, those Demolition Boys are something, aren't they?"

The four just looked blankly at him. It seemed like an eternity before the silence was broken- by the sound of laughter echoing through the halls. The patients around poked their heads out the door to find the source of the commotion.

Tyson pouted, "It's not that funny…"

But his pleads were lost among the thunderous laughter of the Bladebreakers. Even Kenny who had trouble with laughing at his own teammates was doubling over in hilarity. Max, the least humble of the lot, was rolling on the floor, clutching his stomach and kept on muttering something about being suffocated. Rei and Kai, though with more dignity, were also leaning on the wall for support; otherwise they too would be on the ground.

Doctors who passed by shushed them, but were met with even more laughter and a glaring Tyson. After a few times, they regretfully gave up and walked away.

It seemed like ages later that the sound finally started to die down, and was brought to a complete stop by another familiar voice.

"Well, well, well..."

They could very well hear the smirking undertone of the voice and turned to look face him.

"You seem well, Bryan," said Rei, wiping the tears from his eyes and composing himself after his sudden bout of mirth.

"As do you," he smirked, "I see you're taking the whole '_laughter keeps you young'_ saying literally. Honestly, I can't say it's working, if nothing else, you look ten years older, Kitten."

"And I have to say, you look even pastier that before, not getting enough sun? Or are you actually a closet albino."

Bryan studied Rei for a moment, eyebrow raised questioningly. "You seem different…I can't seem to put my finger on it, but…" he held his chin in contemplation, "I know," he exclaimed suddenly, "You're starting to sound like Kai!--And probably Tala," after a few moments of thought, he added, "I've always had my doubts about them through, maybe they're actually the same person?"

Tyson eyes grew wide and he had a triumphant smile on his face, "I told you. Didn't I tell you? I told you so!" he punched his fist in the air. It seemed like he had only now realized the presence of Bryan; his face turned beet-red and he turned away.

Bryan looked at him for a moment before looking at Kai, "What's up with him?"

Kai shrugged, "Maybe he's in love with you?"

Bryan's eyebrows shot up to his hairline and Tyson turned around abruptly, "It's a lie! That's completely not true! You don't know what you're saying, Kai!" he huffed and puffed, attracting curious glances from passer-bys and from the five people in front of him. He laughed nervously, "N-nothing…" he stammered an apology and walked as far away from the group as he could.

"Strange little man he is."

The Bladebreakers nodded at Bryan's comment.

"So, what're you doing here, Kai? Getting admitted… again?"

"No, we're here to visit you actually," Max beamed, "where are the rest of the Demolition dudes?" he looked around.

"Really," Bryan looked genuinely shocked at his answer, bringing a first show of emotions that the Bladebreakers ever saw coming from him, "The others are…I think Ian's getting his burns checked out by the Docs and Spence. I'm not sure. Maybe he's at the cafeteria."

"How're you?" Kai spoke.

"It's nothing big. I've had worse at the Abbey anyway. Just a couple of minor burns, nothing to get all whacked out about. Tala--" he cut off suddenly, looking regretfully away.

"What happened there?" Rei asked. They didn't notice Tyson come closer to them, listening to what Bryan has to say.

Bryan just shrugged, his mind wondering off to the night of the fire. "I was woken up when I heard the guys outside shouting something about a fire. I threw open the door and found Spence, he told me that one of the training rooms had already been engulfed in fire. Everyone was panicking because it was right next to the closest exit door. It's kind off ironic actually because Boris trained us to be completely organized and disciplined, but when a thing like this happens, everyone completely falls apart--except for me that is."

"How did you get out?" Kenny spoke up, forgetting his intense fear of the lilac haired Falborg master.

"I'm not really sure. Everything happened so fast. One minute, we were together, even Tala. But one of the supporting beams in the hall caught fire and it collapsed. Ian and myself were separated from Spence; he said he was with Vlad and Igor. I saw Red through the rubble on the other side, I think he saw something and ran back to the eye of the fire…we didn't see him anymore after that," he looked down. His back was against the wall and he raised his hand up to brush his hair out of his face.

"You haven't heard, Bryan?" Rei asked.

"What?"

"Tala. They said there's a chance he's still alive."

Bryan couldn't hide the shocked expression from his face. Even though his face didn't show it, they could see the joy and relief shining through his eyes. "Well…I have to say that if he was actually dead. He really would have let us down," a smile-cum-smirk passed through his face. Suddenly he turned to Kai, "How about you? Anything come back yet, besides Tala? I have to say, I'm glad you did remember him. You have no idea how much ranting and raving we would have to be subjected to if you didn't."

Kai smiled weakly and nodded.

Neither one of them spoke anything for a moment, until Max noticed Tyson standing to the side and grinned, "Hey, Bryan, your secret admirer is feeling a little left out," he laughed and took off running, Tyson in hot pursuit.

Bryan looked mildly amused at their antics, "Sugar rush?"

"Like you wouldn't believe," Rei sweat-dropped.

Around the bend the same bitter old nurse stood eavesdropping in on their conversation. '_Amnesia_?' she thought to herself, '_I'm sure Boris will like to hear about this_.'

_To be continued._

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	7. Burning: Part One

_Standard disclaimer applies._

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Part 7: Burning, Part One.

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_**- Night of the Fire -**_

The vicinity of the Abbey was quiet; the only sounds that could be heard thumping in the night were of the Abbey guards making their rounds, preparing to punish any students that were found out of bed. The coldness was numbing and could be seen as the guards breathed in the fresh, yet somewhat medicinal scent in the air. Someone had gotten hurt that night, and the smell of disinfectants and alcohol proved it.

The imposing doors that led into the cold and unforgiving atmosphere of the inner Abbey were shut tight and bolted, making sure that anyone trapped within the confinements were kept there, unable to make an escape. It was not as if the doors were opened on any other night, but that night was different. Because for once in their life that they had spent at the Abbey, the students were without the watchful eyes of the director or his associates glowering down on them through the hundreds of cameras (hidden or otherwise) that littered through the halls. No, tonight they were alone, all alone and with no chance of escape. One might wonder why the boys were left unattended in such a sinister manner, but the questions would soon be answered.

- - - - -

Bryan slept soundly in his bed, his expression cold and stoic, like the one he wore occasionally when awake. He knew that they were not allowed to show emotions at all, not even when they were asleep. So he, as well as the majority of the senior students, had taught themselves to sleep impassively to escape punishment from Boris.

He would shift on his side from time to time, unconsciously searching for the most comfortable position. Now, Bryan was a very light sleeper, even a wolf couldn't sneak up on him during the night, with the exception of one wolf of course. Bryan had always been pondering how Tala managed to creep up to him without him noticing for a very long time. Unfortunately the answer to that question never came, and Tala would refuse to divulge that information with him, so he finally managed to brush it off, convincing himself that Tala was gifted in the art of stealth and silence.

This night, Bryan was awakened suddenly by the sounds of footsteps thundering up and down right in front of his door. He groaned at being woken up from a very pleasurable dream and stood up, walking towards the door to find out what the commotion was about. Surely there had been some kind of horrific tragedy that would force the boys out of their dorms when they knew the punishment for breaking the rules. Maybe one of the toilets overflowed? The public one at the end of the hallways was unsanitarily overflowing with all sorts of _items_. Bryan didn't know, but he intended to find out.

He equipped his most heated glare as his hand reached over to turn the knob, preparing to scare the answer out of the first person that he sees. However, the sight that met his eyes was not one that he would have expected to see going on in the halls of Boris' Abbey.

Chaos.

That would be the perfect way to describe the situation, just pure chaos. Boys were running back and forth, panic shining through their eyes as they looked around.

Bryan opened his mouth to ask what the hell was going on, but his eyes were suddenly drawn towards the ceiling; thick black smoke carpeted the space above their heads. Bryan's eyes widened slightly and he looked around to find where the smoke was coming from and to his horror, discovered black puffs of cinder and grime blowing out of the corridor that lead to the only exit from the underground dormitories.

His feet moved even before the signal from his brain sent an order to it and he found himself running towards the doors. He got on his hands and knees as the level of the smoke lowered the closer he got to the source of the flames. Finding no way to get to the doors, he turned back, eager to find the rest of his teammates.

Bryan was too preoccupied with his search that he failed to notice a small person running around the corner before the both of the collided head on. Bryan rubbed the sore spot on his back where he had landed quite unceremoniously onto the cold, hard cement floor. "Look where you're headed, fool," he growled.

"You're the idiot, Bryan!"

The familiar voice reached his ears and he opened his eyes, only to look back into the angry, pale purple ones that belonged to the shortest member of the Demolition Boys, "Ian," Bryan said, "what's going on?" Bryan mentally kicked himself for the stupid comment.

"Fire," Ian forgot his momentary anger as the situation they were in finally came back to him, "I don't know where, but everyone's panicking."

"Near the exit," Bryan said to him and motioned to the spot where the smoke was thickest. He turned around when he didn't receive any answer and felt the brunt of the glare Ian was shooting at him, "What?"

"If you know what's going on, don't ask what's going on!"

Bryan stayed silent, knowing the truth behind his words, "Whatever, we have to find Red and Spence," he exclaimed and took off running in the other direction, pushing past the other boys looking for a way out, Ian following close behind.

After a few minutes of running, they spotted the form of Spencer towering over the crowd. Bryan called out to him, unsure whether he had heard him over the shouts but the big guy looked over at him nonetheless. He motioned to one of the empty hallways to his right and he nodded in return.

"What the hell?" Was the first thing out of the mouth of Spencer's after they regrouped, "And where is Tala?" he looked around for any sign of his Captain's flaming red hair.

"Fire down the hallway," Bryan panted, "The exit is a complete loss."

"We have to get out of here, guys," Ian looked around at his surroundings, he noticed someone among the crowd and called out to him, "Vlad!"

The boy in question turned his head, spotting the three, he ran over to them. "What the-"

"Fire," Bryan cut him off before the question could be asked for a third time, "Have you seen Tala?"

"Cap?" Vlad asked, squinting his eyes that had been irritated by the smoldering ashes of the fire, "You lost the Cap?" he looked at them incredulously with half-moon-eyes.

Bryan returned his look with a similar one, "Not lost. We haven't even met up with him yet."

"Now that I think about it, we haven't seen him since we got back," Spencer spoke up, carelessly hiding the worry that had begun to creep into his voice. He gulped, "Since Boris took him away."

Silence spread among them, before it was broken by a calm voice.

"What the hell are you lot standing around for? We have to get out of here, now!" The four of them turned around.

"Tala!" Bryan and the rest said, relieved.

"Cap!" Said Vlad with a grin on his face.

Tala smirked, "Missed me already? I haven't even been gone for a day."

"We just thought - "

Ian never got to finish that sentence because at that moment, an explosion resounded from the opposite side of the room. There was a loud rumbling inside the concrete before they felt small parts of the ceiling raining down on them. As sudden crash caught their attention and they followed the stream of kids that started to run in the direction of the fire; an attempt to keep from getting crushed by the walls.

They struggled to stay together and after a few seconds, managed to pull away from the crowd into the three way, side corridor.

"What would Boris think if he saw his disciplined army running around like chickens with their heads cut off," Tala smirked, "If the situation wasn't so serious, I'd say everyone was doing it on purpose."

"Who can blame them though," Vlad said, "I ran into Georgi earlier, he kept muttering incoherent stuff like, '_What are we going to do_?' and, '_Where's Boris_?' and stuff like that. Can you blame them? They've been trained to take orders all their lives and…" he trailed off at the looks on their faces, "What?"

"Blame them?" Bryan smirked.

"Feeling pretty rebellious at the moment, aren't we Vladislav," Tala raised an eyebrow at him.

"As a matter of fact, I do. Being this close to death tends to bring out the be--"

"Look out!" A new voice rang through. Spencer and Vlad who stood closest to each other felt themselves being pulled back as the wooden supports that kept up the ceiling collapsed down on them in a fiery blaze."

As the smoke cleared, the three of them coughed and looked around.

"Is everyone all right?" Spencer looked over his two companions, Vlad and another new face, Igor. The ceiling had fallen entirely onto the floor, blocking the passages from all three halls.

Vlad coughed, "Peachy. Just peachy," he broke into another coughing fit.

"I'm good," Igor answered.

"Tala," Spencer looked around, not seeing his red haired Captain nor the other two members of his team, he called out again, "Ian! Are you all alright?" Still no answer, "Bryan! Where are you? Tala!" he shouted more frantically, "Ian! Bryan," his eye twitched in irritation, "Hey, Boris Kuznetsov! Answer me!" He heard a rustling to his left and saw as an unseen force shook one of the fallen beams. He sighed in relief when he saw the face of Bryan popping up.

"How many times have I told you now to call me that!" he shouted back at the taller boy. He didn't hear Spencer's answer, for at the moment, he was pushed aside and from under him came the dirty and soot covered form of Ian.

"Crap, Bry, you should go on a diet!"

"Tala?" They heard Vlad muttering.

"Tala!" Bryan called out, remembering, for the second time that day that he had forgotten about Tala.

"I'm here," they heard a voice from the last corner. The fire and wood blocked their way and now the six of them were completely separated from each other.

"You okay?"

"Fine," he coughed.

"We have to find a way out, otherwise we'll be in a lot of trouble," Spencer exclaimed, taking in their current situation.

"As if we're not in a whole load of trouble at the moment," Vlad rolled his eyes, but shrunk away when Spencer turned a glare towards him, "What do you think, Tala?"

No answer reached him.

"Tala!" Bryan called out. He could vaguely see the form of his Captain through the rubble; he seemed to be more preoccupied with something that that caught his eye. "Hey, Tal! What are we going to do now?"

Tala was shaken out of his thoughts. "You lot find your way out, I'll catch up soon," Without waiting for an answer, he turned on his heels and ran back the opposite way, leaving his friends gaping at his receding back.

"Where the hell is he going!" Vlad spluttered.

"Doesn't matter," Bryan said as a matter of fact, "If Tala says' he'll catch up, then he will. We have to worry about us now and find a way out of here."

"Right," Ian, for once in his life, agreed with Bryan's comment.

"Guys," Igor spoke up from his position behind Spencer, "one of the guys mentioned to me awhile back about air shafts. I'm sure if we find them, they'll lead us out of here."

Bryan nodded, "Only option we got," he shouted over the fire, "Spence! You, Vlad and Igor go that way and try to find the shaft he mentioned, me and Ian will take this way."

They all nodded and started running through the halls in search of the rumored shafts.

"Bryan."

Bryan looked down to the somewhat sad face of Ian. "What?"

"What about Tala?"

"Don't worry about him, he'll find his way," he reassured the boy. '_He'd better_.'

_To be continued._

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	8. Burning: Part Two

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Part 8: Burning Part Two.

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**-The Night of the Fire-**

Tala ran through the hallways as fast as he could, pushing past the crowd of people pushing past him in an attempt to get to the exit before it was too late. He ignored the pain shooting up his body with every move he made, '_I swear I saw … but it couldn't be!_' Tala pondered the question in his mind over and over, '_what would he be doing here? Unless,'_ his eyes narrowed, '_I should have known_.'

He shook the thoughts out of his head. He stopped abruptly, finally realizing that he had reached a deserted hall. Tala's eyes looked around, looking for any sign of life. His eyes caught sight of a looming cloud of smoke that lingered over the ceiling above. '_Boris must really not want us to get out alive_,' he thought, '_and here I thought Boris had let me leave out of the sheer goodness of his heart,_' his ears suddenly perked up when he heard a muffled scream coming from up ahead. He gathered all the strength he had left and sprinted forward, hopeful that when he got there it wouldn't be too late.

- - - - -

Sacha huffed and panted as he tried in vain to lose the two burly Abbey guards that were hot on his tail. Tears fear clouded his vision as he stumbled along, wanting desperately to get out of the dark and cold confinements that he had been kept in since the tournament. He wanted his mother, his father, anyone to be there to save him, but no one came.

"Help me!" he shouted to the darkness, but was only answered by silence. By this time, tears flowed freely down his face as he thought about his doomed future, but it was not for long. Soon he felt a tug on the back of his shirt and was thrown hard onto the ground.

The man hovered over him menacingly, the other looming in the background poised to give assistance when needed. The guard smirked at him and picked him up by the collar of his shirt and slammed him hard against the wall. "So, you think you can get away from the Director, do you, kid? Then you must be stupid. Don't you know, no one gets away from Boris, or lives to tell about it," he reached his hand into his pocket and Sacha could only watch on in horror as he pulled out a gun, "Even if we didn't get you, you think you'd actually make it out of here?" he shared a look with his colleague and turned back to the frightened boy.

"The exit's been set on fire, so all the boys in here have absolutely no chance to get out alive. Although, it is rather shocking that you managed to find Boris' secret entrance. Too bad you won't be able to let anyone know about it."

"Time to say goodbye, kid," he raised his hand up and pointed the gun between Sacha's eyes.

He hitched a sob and said in a small voice, "Please … please don't. I swear I won't tell anyone."

"We know, but we'd be much more assured if you were dead anyway. But don't worry, you'll be joined by your beloved Tala soon enough," he cocked it, and places him finger threateningly on the trigger. There was a light thump sounding from behind him, but he didn't notice.

Sacha shut his eyes tightly and sobbed. He raised his hands to cover both his eyes and prepared himself for the feel of the bullet piercing his skull.

"Five … four … three … two … one," he smirked and slowly drew back the trigger.

A loud bang resounded around the hall. The deafening sound lasted for a long second before it evaporated into silence.

Sacha continued his sobbing, feeling a warm liquid slowly seeping down his face. He stood like that for a while, before he finally realized that he felt no pain. So, daring himself to find out what was happening, he opened his fingers and peaked through them. He looked up, into the face of his tormentor and was about to shut his eyes again before he realized that the man was staring blankly at him. His eyes rolled back into his head and a thin stream of blood oozing down the middle of his forehead. His head suddenly lolled forward and he collapsed squarely onto Sacha.

Once he finally registered what had happened, he crawled out from under the man and looked around. What he saw made his jaw drop open in shock.

Where the backup guard once stood, now stood Tala. His hand held out in front of him and a smoking gun grasped tightly between his fingers; his eyes wide as he looked at the now deceased man lying on the ground. He shifted his glance and stared directly at Sacha.

Sacha didn't know if it was a feeling of relief that washed over him at seeing a familiar face, or it was just shock at being so terrified and close to death and finally realizing that he was safe, now that Tala was here. Whatever it was, it didn't stop the boy from bursting out into tears. The fear from the past few hours finally getting a grip on him and he covered his eyes with his hands and his legs gave way. He slid to the ground and sat there crying.

He felt a warm hand on his shoulder and hiccoughed; the sobs caught in his throat made him unable to utter a word. He lifted his head up and looked straight into the comforting orbs of his idol, "Tal-la …" he choked. Incapable of any other acts, he just lunged forward and wrapped his arms around the stunned teen's neck and bawled into his chest, "I-I'm scared … plea-lease don't l-leave me …" he cried.

Tala just sighed and raised his hand up to rub the young kid's back soothingly, "It's all right. I'm here now," he pulled the boy closer to his chest. His left hand placed on the ground in order to keep both him and the distressed Sacha upright. He felt a cool liquid beneath his finger and lifted his hand up for inspection and smiled sadly. '_I guess I really do have blood on my hands now … and all this time I took it for an expression,'_ he watched as a droplet of red rolled down his palm and splattered onto the ground.

He just shook his head and concentrated on the task at hand. "C'mon, kid, we have to get out of here," he gently pried the boy from his chest and held him at arms length, "This is no time to cry, okay?" he said firmly, "when we're out of this place, you can cry all you want, I'll probably join you as well," he offered him a small comforting smile.

"Okay," Sacha sniffled and wiped his eyes with the back of his hands, "Y-you know a w-way out of here?" his voice sounded raspy and hitched from his earlier bout of tears.

"No, but you do," Tala looked sternly at him, "you got in here, while the one and only exit is apparently inaccessible. So you must know a way out. Also, that fool mentioned it as well … and many other interesting things," he said as a matter of fact, "doesn't he know that the number one rule in the _Guide to Being a Baddie 101_, clearly states that, '_You must never reveal important and secret information to your victims while you loom forebodingly over them or you assume that they're done for_.'" He said in a low and professional tone, earning a chuckle from Sacha.

"You're funny," Sacha said lightheartedly while wiping his nose and eyes with the sleeve of his shirt. Regaining some of his usual spunk and attitude, he blurted out "I knew you are and will always be my most favourite blader!"

Tala just snickered quietly. "I'm sure. Now come on, we have to get out, now before the fire spreads out too big and then we're really screwed."

"Okay," he nodded and took to his feet.

"Lead the way then-hey, did I mention that I really like your hair? It reminds me of someone," he smirked.

Sacha just laughed and pointed the way he had come from. "I think it's that way," Tala just nodded his head and both of them started walking in the direction.

Their heads snapped back suddenly when they heard an explosion and the sound of the building collapsing. "Damnit! It's getting closer. We have to go!" Tala grabbed Sacha's hand and was just about to drag him away from the incoming flames, and voice spoke up.

"Not so fast, kids."

Tala turned his head just in time to feel a blinding pain as a bullet pierced his skin and embedded itself into his left shoulder. He collapsed onto the ground with Sacha calling out his name. Tala reached his right hand up to stop the blood from flowing and his shot a glare at the second guard, the one he had knocked out before. The man wore an expression of malice and began to push himself up.

"Tala, are you okay?" Sacha was immediately at his side, his hands circled around his chest in a frail attempt to protect him from the evil man.

"Fine," Tala said through gritted teeth. In truth, the pain was so intense he felt like he could pass out at any given moment, but kept his strength up for the sake of Sacha.

"Time to die!" The man slowly made his way forward, pointing a gun at Tala, and evil glint in his eye. However, he didn't get within twenty feet of the two before a deafening rumble and sounds of the licking flames reached his ears. All of a sudden, the entire roof collapsed into him. Burying him in rubbles of stone and burning wood.

The two of them jumped back a bit at the sudden turn of events, but didn't wait for the flames to consume them as well. Tala, forgetting the pain in his shoulder, jumped to his feet and grabbed Sacha. He ran as fast as he could the way Sacha had pointed out and didn't stop running until he saw a stream of light shining though a small crack in the wall. '_How the hell didn't anyone discover this before? It's so obviously a trap door!' _

They reached the door with just minutes to spare with the flames growing bigger and stronger with everything it consumed. Tala grabbed the door and with all his might began to pry it open. Finally, after what seemed like an eternity, it began to give way and he managed an opening just big enough to fit him and Sacha. He grabbed the boy by his sleeve and threw him between the openings and then jumped in himself.

Not a second too soon, they felt the heat of the flames through the walls and moved to get away from it.

"Here," Tala turned to the voice of Sacha and say the kid pointing to a set of stairs, "this way."

Tala painfully pushed himself up with his right hand and followed him. Only now did he realize that his entire body hurt like hell. His shoulder from being shot, his back from training – or better yet, being trained by Black Wolborg and being just mentally exhausted from all the strength he had used up during the tournament. He sighed and followed Sacha slowly up the stairs.

As they reached the last step, Sacha ran towards the door and enthusiastically pushes it open, eager to get out into the free air. Tala took it step by step, concentrating hard on putting one foot ahead of the other. Finally, he reached the same door Sacha had passed through and slowly pushed it open. He felt a cool brush of air on his face and took a deep breath, relieved to finally be out of that place.

His relief didn't last long though, because he felt a hand grasping his shoulder. Tala smirked, he didn't even have to look … he already knew who it was. Instead he just looked around to make sure Sacha was alright (although being in the grasp of yet another Abbey guard) before looking up to meet the gaze of the Abbey Director. "Boris," he said in a mildly interested tone, "how nice of you to greet us here."

"Nice indeed," he nodded his head, "I have to say, you have indeed surprised me with your wit and ability to save yourself even from the most dire of circumstances."

"Have you now. I guess my purpose is fulfilled, the world finally makes sense again," he said dryly, nor caring anymore whether he angered the director. He felt like crap right now and he intended to let everyone know it.

"A smart mouth you have there indeed. We'll see how much longer you can keep up this heroic act," he motioned for Tala to be taken away.

"I just have a question for you, Boris," Tala held his finger up in a questioning manner, "how come you never told us you had a twin?"

"What on earth –" Boris didn't get to finish his questions when he saw Tala lean forward slowly before collapsing to the ground, completely unconscious. "Guards! Take him to the doctors! Hurry!"

"Sir, what about the kid?"

He looked over at the person who had voiced the questions and locked eyes with the fearful one's of Sacha's. "Just take him. I'll deal with it eventually."

Sacha felt somewhat relieved when he heard what he said, but it quickly went back to worry when he looked at the fallen form of Tala's.

'Tala … please be all right …'

_To be continued._

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	9. Remembering

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_Part 9: Remembering._

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"Really?" 

"Of course. What would be the point of lying about it?"

"…Really, really?"

"For the umpteenth time; yes!"

"Really, really, _really_!"

"YES! Goddamnit!"

"Shush guys, Bryan's headed this way."

"What are you guys whispering about? Talking about me behind my back, are we?"

"N-No, of course not. Why would we be doing such a thing?"

"Yeah…whatever…"

"Phew, that was close."

"You're telling me. Bryan would have my head if he knew I told you."

"So, you mean to tell us, Ian, that Bryan's real, real name is…Boris?" Max said a little to loudly.

"Boris as in B-O-R-I-IS a freaky, purple haired weirdo with a world domination fetish?" Tyson looked at the shortest Demolition Boys' member with a startled expression of shock, one eye squinting as if trying to intimidate the offending boy.

"Why don't you say it a bit louder, windbag, I don't think Bryan or _Antarctica_ heard you!"

"Sorry," Tyson said sheepishly and looked towards Bryan who was sitting in the lounge chair watching a cooking program.

"So," Rei spoke up, "How come you all don't have Russian names?"

"We do, what made you think that?" Ian raised an eyebrow at the Neko-Jin.

"Unless I've been kept in the dark all these years, neither Ian nor Spencer really sound like your run of the mill Russian names."

"Yes…good question," Ian pondered his answer, "Well, my real name is actually Ivan, you know like Ivan the Terrible," a glint appeared in his eye, "and Spence's name is Sergei. I'll be darned if those aren't the most Russian names you could find," he snickered, "I guess Boris thought if we wanted to break into the International arena, we'd have to have International names," he nodded his head.

"Can't say that it doesn't make sense…" Rei tilted his head to one side.

"And Bryan's names is Boris, but if he ever hears you calling him that…then…well, you'd be better off tying a cow to your neck and jumping into a pit of starving piranhas'. Guys at the Abbey never called him that even before the name change. Everyone just called him Kuznetsov, or Kuz…or hey you, you big fat meanie, but the guy who called him that…we never did hear whatever happened to him after that day."

The members of the Bladebreakers couldn't help but chuckle at the image of Bryan's face when the poor soul referred to him like that.

"Man, he was pissed. I think even Boris didn't dare to approach him for days after that."

"What about Tala then?"

"I think Tala's his middle name; his first name is Yuriy," Ian scratched the tip of his nose, "He does seem like Yuriy. I mean, that is a sexy name."

"And Yuriy is sexy, don't you think so, Kai?" Tyson grinned cheekily and elbowed Kai in his ribs, winking at him.

Kai, who had been sitting silently during the whole exchange of words, just raised his eyebrows. The corner of his mouth curled upwards in what seemed to be an attempt at a smirk and he elbowed Tyson in return, "As sexy as Bryan is in your dream, right, Tyson?" his eye glinted with mischief.

The blood rushed to Tyson face. We could almost see the vapour coming out of his ears when he noticed Bryan had turned off the television and was walking towards them.

Even Spencer's interest had been perked up by the sudden turn of events.

"Tyson?" Rei and Max's eyebrows had shot to their hairline while Kenny just sat beside them, too stunned to move.

"You?" Ian pointed to him, "And him?" he turned to Bryan, "Oh, this has got to be the hottest topic at the moment! If Tala heard about this…" he trailed off, thinking of his captain.

"Umm…err…I mean-err…that is…I-I-I and…ahem," he coughed and looked away embarrassedly.

"I heard my name being mentioned," Bryan reached towards them, "And I'd like to know what about," he crossed his arms over his chest.

"I-It's not-thing… err…" sweat poured down his face as he looked up at the looming Bryan, "The… issue is… the things I mean that… umm… I had a dre-"

"Boys?"

Tyson was cut off when the door to the waiting room was opened and Dr. Olga walked in, three charts firmly in her grasp. "Good, you're all here," she looked over to the Demolition Boys, "Bryan, Ian and Sergei, it's time for your check up."

The three of them groaned and reluctantly walked out towards the examination room they were due in. When they were all out the door and out of sight, Tyson jumped to his feet and rushed towards Dr. Olga, hugging her around the legs.

"Dr. Olga," he was teary-eyed, "You are the goddess with shiny wings that has come to save me! How can I ever repay you?"

"For starters," she sweat-dropped, "you could let go of my leg, I need to make my rounds," Tyson nodded his head and let go, "thank you. By the way, Kai," she turned to the slate-haired boy, "I've scheduled a CAT scan for you in half an hour. Since you're here, might as well get on with it."

"What for?"

"Just for precautions. Have you had any relapses since the tournament?" when Kai shook his head, she continued, "It pays to be safe, doesn't it? In any case, this is the latest model; we've just received it this morning and I can't wait to try it out!" she laughed. The Bladebreakers just sweat-dropped as she walked out.

"Is anyone else suddenly feeling a little nervous about this?" Max asked, looking at Kai. The boy just gulped.

- - - - -

Sacha sighed as he sat on the cold and hard floor. He surveyed his surroundings, realizing that this was similar to the dungeon where he had been kept previously, but knew that it wasn't. The entire Abbey had been burnt down, and he assumed, the inhabitants as well. He pulled his legs up to his chest and hugged them tightly, sobbing quietly into his knees. He was scared for himself and what Boris would do to him. But most of all, he was scared for Tala. Boris had taken him, and dumped Sacha in this cell where he had been for, heaven knows how long. It seemed even longer considering that Sacha hadn't seen or heard anything on Tala since that night.

'_I hope Tala's okay,_' he thought about his idol, absentmindedly rubbing the sore spot behind his head where a lump of his hair had been pulled out by the guard chasing him through the underground of the Abbey, _'I bet I have a bald spot now,' _he sighed dejectedly and pondered his fate as he sat alone in the dark cell.

All of a sudden, he heard the clanking bolts of the entrance door being unlocked and instinctively leaped to his feet, flattening himself against the wall, not like they didn't already know he was there.

The door slammed open and two burly guards walked in. Sacha didn't see their faces because they were wearing sharp tipped hoods to cover their heads; the boy immediately was reminded of the pictures of the Ku Klux Klan he sometimes saw in the history books.

His attention didn't linger on the two figures for long when he noticed that they were holding someone, it seemed that if their hands weren't clutching his upper arm, he surely would have fallen over.

"Tala!" Sacha said, and ran to get a closer look at his idol.

Tala seemed looked terrible, and that was just from what Sacha saw of his posture. He could only imagine what Tala looked like beneath his clothes, not to mention that Tala's head was bowed low, making it unable for Sacha to have eye contact with him, or even have a good look at his face.

The guards walked past the cell he was into, towards the one next door. The opened the door and brought Tala in, before dropping him non-too-gently on the floor. Leaving the beaten boy on his stomach on the floor, his face turned away from Sacha, they walked out, locking the door behind them; to Sacha it seemed like a waste of time, not like Tala could have gotten up and left even if he wanted too.

Soon, the both of them were left in the dim room once again.

Sacha, realizing that it was really Tala, ran towards the metal bars that separated them and dropped to his knees, "Tala!" he called out the Russian Captain's name, receiving only silence in return. He reached his left hand through the spacing in attempt to reach Tala's outstretched arm, but it was just a few centimeters too far. He did not give up, pushing his shoulder harder into the cool metal bars, his hand frantically trying to touch Tala's own. Tears almost welled up in his eyes from the ache in his shoulder and the fact that Tala was less than an inch away from him, and yet he seemed like an eternity away.

After minutes for agonizing desperation, his fingers managed to brush Tala's hand, and eventually, he manages to grab hold of his hand. Sacha breathed a sigh of relief as he pulled Tala's hand a few inches closer so that it reduced the burden on his pained shoulder.

"Tala…" Sacha looked at his unconscious idol, grasping his hand firmly but gently and spoke to him in a comforting voice, "We're going to get out of here, Tala. Please hang on."

As Sacha pondered about what he could do to help Tala; the teenager's subconscious was somewhere else. A whisper escaped his lips, going unheard to Sacha as he stroked the top of Tala's limp hand gently with his own.

"Kai…"

- - - - -

"Are you ready, Kai?"

"_No!_" A muffled voice said abruptly from inside the changing room.

"You've been in there for an hour. How long does it take you to take off your clothes?" Dr. Olga's frustrated tone became more apparent. She had been trying to get Kai out of the changing room for the last forty-five minutes, but the boy refused to budge. She suspected it had something to do with the hospital gown he had to wear, "Come out, Kai, it isn't that bad."

"No!" he shouted again, "You're going to have to drag my cold, dead carcass out of here!"

Rei, Tyson, Max and Kenny watched on amused as Dr. Olga tried to reason Kai out of the room.

"What's going on?"

They turned when the familiar voice reached their ears.

"Ian," Max said as the three members of the Demolition Boys walked up to them, "Dr. Olga made Kai put on a hospital gown for the CAT scan, and now she can't make him come out of the changing room."

"Hospital gown?" Ian raised an eyebrow.

"A CAT scan for what?" Bryan crossed his arms over his chest.

"Don't know," Rei shrugged.

"Dr. Olga said that she wanted to check something out, and the scanner is one of the latest models. Maybe it could find out what happened to Kai," Kenny chirped in.

The three other boys nodded their head in understanding, before Bryan spoke up.

"Hospital gown, eh?" Bryan made a face, "Good thing we didn't have to wear no hospital gown," he looked own to his dark green pajama type of hospital wear.

"Ditto to that."

"No! Leave me alone!"

All of them turned their attention back to the commotion when they heard Kai raising his voice.

"Sounds more like the old Kai now, doesn't he?" Rei sweat-dropped.

"If you don't come out here, this instant," Dr. Olga also raised her voice an octave higher, "I'll come in there and drag you out by your ears!"

There was silence for a moment, then the sound of the door being unlocked before Kai waltzed out, his cheeks tinged a dark shade of red and a twitch in his eyebrow that didn't seem to be letting up anytime soon, "Fine," he said through clenched teeth.

The Russian boys and members of the Bladebreakers were barely able to control a snicker at the sight of Kai in a knee length, white gown. Not that he looked bad in it, on the contrary, he seemed quite sexy.

"Look on the bright side, Kai," Rei patted him on the shoulder, "If it was Tyson in this gown, he'd look like an overly stuffed sausage on two sticks for legs."

Tyson harrumphed, "You're the one to talk, Rei. If you wore that gown people might be put away by the amount of leg hair you have."

"Guys," Max sweat-dropped when Rei and Tyson exchanged glares, "we're not here to talk about the gown or Tyson's weight or…" his eyes glanced unconsciously at the bottom of Rei's pants, "Rei's leg hair--"

"I do not have leg hair!"

Max ignored him, "We're here because we want to find out what made Kai lose his memory."

"Blondie's right," Bryan said from his position near the wall, eyes closed in full concentration, "If you two idiots can put a sock in it for one minute, then maybe the woman can see what the hell's wrong with Kai's head…more than what was wrong with it before," he ended his sentence and looked up to four glares that were directed at him, "What?"

"Amazing," Ian said suddenly, "that's a new record for Bryan, you know. He managed to insult five people in the span of one sentence."

Dr. Olga coughed in an attempt to get their attention, "Now, now, Max is right," he managed to spare one last glare at Bryan, "We're here for Kai, and lets not waste anymore time chatting about useless issues," she glared at Bryan again before walking out, motioning for Kai to follow her.

"What did I say?" Bryan looked at his teammates in confusion as the remaining Bladebreakers snubbed him before followed suit behind their Captain.

Ian shrugged off Bryan's question and left, leaving Spencer alone with Bryan. The burly teenager just studied Bryan for a moment, shaking his head and walked out, leaving Bryan's unanswered question lingering in the air.

"Hey!"

- - - - -

"Are you ready, Kai?"

"I guess," Kai looked at the imposing machine in front of him, "is it going to hurt or something?" He raised an eyebrow.

"No, no," she laughed, "it's just going to scan your head. Latest machine, and very safe, I assure you."

"I'm sure…" Kai didn't seem overly enthusiastic about the prospect of being stuffed into a small hole, not knowing what to expect. There was just something about it that nagged at him in the back of his mind.

"Relax, Kai," Mr. Dickenson who had been called in by Dr. Olga when she suggested the idea, clasped his hand on Kai's shoulder, "Everything is going to be alright."

"Yeah…" Kai trailed off, not meeting the old man's eyes, instead, his crimson orbs made contact with Bryan's lilac ones.

The other boy was momentarily shocked by the odd emotion he was seeing welling up in Kai's eyes. It was the same kind he normally saw around the Abbey, especially when something bad was about to happen. The other person who could express their feelings through their eyes very well was Tala, and Bryan swore that he noticed that Kai's eyes looked exactly like the ones Tala had just before Boris took him away.

He shook the thoughts out of his mind and looked back at Kai, wondering whether he should say something and stop the experiment. He didn't. He didn't have any reason.

He could do nothing when the doctors guided Kai onto the gurney near the entrance and proceeded to secure him with the straps attached. He sighed when Dr. Olga instructed the person at the controls to switch the machine on, and not really paying much attention when the woman doctor instructed Kai to lie completely still. He did, however, pay full attention when something in the controls emitted a shrill beeping sound, causing some sort of interference with the monitors and then Kai began to thrash around in the confinement of the metal contraption.

Bryan jumped to alert when he heard Kai's agonized cry from inside the piece of equipment and ran as fast as he could towards where the slate haired boy was.

"Get him out of there!" Dr. Olga shouted to the man at the controls. Kai's sudden reaction has shocked all of them. The man frantically obliged, pushing various buttons until the monitor went completely blank and the gurney Kai was on, slowly rolled back out.

Bryan was the first to reach Kai's side, and second later the other boys joined him. As Kai emerged from the machine, completely still, they gasped.

The entire left side of Kai's neck and shoulder was covered with blood.

The Kai on the other hand, had a calm, almost wistful look on his face as his teammates and friends hovered over him in concern.

"Kai?"

- - - - -

The humming sound was deafening as the make shift gurney he was on automatically inched it's way into the tunnel. Kai looked around at his tight surrounding in borderline nervousness. He never realized before that tight spaces made him feel very uncomfortable, that was one of the reason's he kept away from crowded places, or even people who were too close in his breathing space. Perhaps it was a subconscious action of his that he normally stayed away from other people.

Whatever it was, Kai didn't think about it very much, because he found himself feeling very crowded at the moment, and he did no like it one bit. He took a deep breath, forcing himself to relax; the others wouldn't let anything happen to him…would they?

Kai shifted his position a little, the tight straps around him were extremely uncomfortable and were pressing in to his skin, it was a bit irritating. But stopped when he heard Dr. Olga's almost mechanical voice telling him to stay still.

He unhappily obliged.

Kai's eyes roamed around the space he was in, taking in every inch and every detail. He was trying hard to keep still, but it was hard, considering that his heart was hammering against his ribcage and he felt his hands starting to become clammy, the feat seemed almost impossible.

He was just about to open his mouth to tell Dr. Olga that he couldn't take it anymore and wanted to be let out, when he heard her mutter the word 'commence' and a sharp pain shot up though his body. He tossed and turned around, but couldn't because he was bound too tightly and the small, cramped up space didn't allow too much movement. It was like that incident with the chip, yet the pain was even more intense. It felt as if his whole neck was being torn open by an unknown force.

'_Insolence!_'

His eyes shot open when he heard that familiar voice.

'_Take him to the room._'

"No…" he breathed out, finding himself caught in a memory of the past.

_**Flash.**_

_The door at the end of the dungeon, where all the bad kids went._

"No…You can't make me go in there," Kai said to the air.

_**Flash.**_

_Sharp objects sticking out. A small space, fit for only one child._

_**Flash.**_

_The both of them locked in together. Their bodies collided against each other. The thick walls; sound proof. There was nowhere out until 'he' decided to let them out._

"The room…" Kai's eyes became wide memories came back to him, the overwhelming pain in his body being ignored as he felt himself being pulled into the dark past.

His body started to shiver violently and he hysterically attempted to free his hands and get himself out. He couldn't take it anymore, the close space, the tightness; it was making it hard to breath. He couldn't breath. He wanted to get out now.

_**Flash.**_

_Tala lay on the ground, injured and unmoving. He couldn't do anything but watch. A voice reached his ears._

'_Kai…_'

Kai pulled his arms and legs, throwing his head from side to side in an attempt to make the images stop.

_**Flash.**_

_There. It was there. The pain, the blood and the tears. Boris' house._

Without realizing it, Kai squeezed his eyes shut and let out a loud, agonizing cry. The pain had become too much for him to handle and the heat in his neck and whole left side left him completely paralyzed in shock.

Then… it stopped.

As quickly as it started, it vanished. The images stopped flashing through his mind, the voices ceased it's haunting and the pain… it all stopped.

Kai felt a cool feeling wash over him and opened his eyes to look into the concerned faces of his friends.

"Kai?"

He heard Rei's worried voice.

'_Tala…'_ the though struck him and he shot up abruptly, starting the wit out of the people present. He looked at his left shoulder, seeing the warm liquid that had soaked into the white gown. An unconscious chuckle escaped his lips and he leaped off the gurney as soon as the straps were unbuckled. "Tala," he said suddenly, "I know where he is!"

_To be continued._

* * *

For a muse-less chapter, I think it turned out pretty well in the end. Good thing too, I though this story was starting to go the way of the Titanic. 

Review.


	10. Resurrection

**Disclaimer**: As Usual™

What I meant by '_going the way of the Titanic_' was that this story was on the verge of hitting rock bottom. Naked Santa left me hanging, Hannibal and Butch are busy Musing on Howling to the Moon and now I have no muse. All is welcomed, therefore :D

This chapter is pretty short **–coughconfusingcough-** but in an attempt to make up for my long hiatus of updates and to celebrate my 20th year of life today, I decided to update this and post the sequel to Tick, Tock goes the Clock.

**As the Fire Burns.****  
Part 10: Resurrection.**

* * *

"_Tala; I know where he is."_

That sentence rang around everyone's heads over and over again as their ran down the long and seemingly endless hallways of the hospital in an attempt to keep up with Kai. The slate haired boy seemed to have acquired a shocking amount of strength is such a short time.

"What does he mean?" Rei looked questioningly at Bryan, who just shrugged his shoulders.

"The better question is; what the heck just happened back there?" Tyson shouted, "One moment, he sounds like someone's about to murder him, then the next he's sprinting down the hall faster than a cheetah on steroids!"

"How should we know what goes through that head of Kai's," Ian said, looking disapprovingly at Tyson, "Besides, he was last seen as _your_ teammate, we haven't even seen him in years!"

"And what about all that blood?" Max chimed in.

"I think we should just stop asking stupid questions and just run. We're going to need all the breath we have just to keep up with Kai," Bryan growled at them, "Correction – I meant, _you're_ going to need all the breath _you_ have," he smirked at Tyson, "Being brought at the Abbey does have it's advantages."

"Like what? Being an extra big pain in the ass, eh?" Tyson glared at him.

"People," Rei scolded them half-heatedly, "Less talking, more running."

Tyson just humphed and looked away from Bryan's smirking face.

"Yes, mother," Bryan winked at Rei, who just blushed.

"Hey, you guys, you're falling back!"

Rei, Bryan and Tyson looked up after hearing Max's voice, only to find that he had at least a distance of ten feet between them, and seemed to be expanding it.

"Sugar-boy seems to be in high spirits today, doesn't he?" Bryan looked at Max's back.

"By the way," Rei looked around and turned to Bryan, "We seem to be missing a few of people," he indicated the conspicuous absence of Spencer, Ian and Kenny.

Bryan just shrugged, "Those two were never runners anyway."

"So much for your 'being brought up at the Abbey' theory," Tyson scoffed.

"Shove it, pig!"

**o-o-o-o**

While Tyson and Bryan were bickering their way down the hallway under Rei's close supervision, Max taking the lead and Kenny, Spencer and Ian's current status of MIA, Kai continued on, uncaring to the events around and the unfortunate people who got in his way. He halted to a stop in front of the room where he had gotten changed in and rushed in.

Kai ran towards the bundle of his clothes that were folded neatly on the chair and pulled out his pants. A strange expression spread across his features as his hands reached into one of the pockets and pulled out the desired object.

"Black Dranzer …" he whispered out, a smirk on his face as he looked at the glowing bit-chip.

The seal beast within the chip seemed to welcome his presence, as a warm aura shrouded the blade, crawling up his hand and arm. It was like a vine of black and red smoke, edge up his out stretched arm, dangerous and yet, comforting to an extent.

Kai seemed to be hypnotized by the pulsating aura of Black Dranzer and probably would have been completely taken by it, if Max, Tyson, Rei and Bryan hadn't burst through the door at that exact moment. The warm feeling disappeared as did the faint glow of the chip.

"Kai!" Rei exclaimed, looking between Kai and the blade his held in his hand with a shocked expression.

Kai continued to look down at the now silent blade, as if nothing had happened at all.

"Black Dranzer!" Bryan gaped at the familiar blade, "Where did you get that, Kai? I thought it fell in the lake?"

"It did," Kai replied in a faraway voice, "But I got it back …" he looked up to meet their eyes for the first time.

The four boys gasped aloud.

Kai's eyes had turned a bloodier shade of red; it was like Tala's eyes on the day of match – no, Black Wolborg's eyes.

"Kai …" Bryan muttered, his eyes holding a dangerous glint to them, "The chip … it's been activated, hasn't it?"

"Chip?" Both Max and Tyson looked between Kai and Bryan.

Rei just stood silently at the side, he had suspected that something was amiss.

"What if it has?" Kai looked away, concentrating instead on the Blade in hand, "It doesn't concern you."

"Anything that might threaten my existence I make my business," Bryan growled, "how did you get the Blade back, Kai," the lilac haired teen took a step closer to Kai.

Max and Tyson seemed to tense, subconsciously feeling the apprehension radiating between the two boys.

"Tala gave it to me," a smirk played at Kai's lips.

"Could someone please tell me what's going on!" Tyson yelled, "Black Dranzer, Kai acting completely bizarro and what does Tala have to do with this?"

Before either Bryan or Kai could open their mouths, Rei had beaten them to it.

"Honestly, Tyson," Rei sighed, "could you be any less oblivious? Did you not realize when Lee and the others got back their bit-beasts? Didn't it seem a bit strange considering that Black Dranzer was at the bottom of Lake Baikal?"

"I thought it was because we defeated Tala and the Demolition Boys."

"It could be, if Black Dranzer hadn't taken the bit-beasts down with him."

"And what about you, Rei? You mean you knew that Kai had Black Dranzer all this time and you didn't tell us?"

"That's not –"

"Excuse me, girls," their heads snapped up when Kai spoke, "if you a lot have finished your bickering, maybe then we can go and rescue Tala from his impending doom, or would you prefer to have tea and crumpets first?"

"Okay," Max put his foot down and pointed an accusing finger at Kai, "who are you and what have you done with grumpy ole Kai?"

The throaty chuckle Kai emitted chilled them to the bone.

"Why, Maxi, what ever do you mean?" he locked eyes with Max, his red orbs boring into Max's soul, "I'm still the Kai you all love to hate."

Tyson narrowed his eyes and took a step back, standing firmly beside Rei.

"So, what do you want?" Bryan took place beside Tyson.

"Want …" a dark look flashed across Kai's face, "I just want …" he smirked, "Tala … my Tala."

Without another word in, Kai walked past them and out the door, his clothes grasped firmly in his hand.

Max, Rei, Tyson and Bryan could do nothing but stare at his receding back.

"What the hell was that?" Tyson seemed to be on the verge of hysterics.

"If I didn't know any better, I'd say Kai's gone over the deep end," Max crossed his arms over his chest.

"What do you make of it, Bryan?"

Bryan looked silently at the door and then back to meet Rei's gaze, "Didn't you notice?"

The three of them just shook their heads.

"That's wasn't Kai … it was Black Dranzer."

* * *

**End Part Ten.**

I bet that was a bit confusing, it was to me as well. Don't worry, I'll explain things bit by bit as I go along, hopefully, if I get it myself n.n;;


	11. Come Back to Me

**Disclaimer**: As Usual.

One thing I would like to bring up:

_Is this going to be a Yaoi story?_  
I have mentioned this many, many times in the past; even though I deeply love relationships between two male characters, this story will not be such. This will be a Friendship story because in my opinion, Friendship is (almost) as good as Yaoi (it normally satisfies the Het-Lovers and the Yaoi-Lovers) and because there aren't enough out there. I have said this now; therefore this question will be ignored in the future. I don't mean to sound snippy, but giving repetitive answers to repetitive questions isn't one of my favourite pastimes. Do take note people.

**As the Fire Burns.  
Part 12: Come Back to Me.**

* * *

_"Will you come back?" Kai looked up at him with innocent eyes. Ones that belonged to someone who hasn't seen the real world ... or remember just how cruel the real world was._

"_Of course I will," Tala smiled warmly at him. He leaned down and kissed Kai on the forehead, "we're best friends, remember?"_

_Kai returned his smile with one of his own and nodded his head._

_Tala leaned over to him and whispered in his ear. "I am Ice and you are Fire. We're meant to balance each other out ... I will always be there, you know, for as long as the fire burns."_

_--_

Kai strode down the length of the hallways, a sense of purpose radiating of off his very being. It was as if a light had suddenly been turned on in his head. Everything was clearer, made more sense than it had for a while.

_--_

_Kai felt Tala's hand brush up against his own and a bulky object was placed in his palm. He looked up at Tala's face as a brief smile flickered across his features before he turned around as walked out without another glance back._

_After the figure was clear out of view, Kai raised his hand up and looked at the object in his palm. It was a Beyblade, black, and seemed to be pulsating. It felt so familiar, so warm, and yet, Kai could not remember from where. What he knew was that Tala gave him the Beyblade, and it was his duty to keep it safe, until the time came when Tala and him were safe._

_--_

There was only one thing running through Kai's mind now: to get to Tala before it was too late. First, he had to get to the one person who knew where he was.

Dr. O. Kyznetsova.

**o-o-o-o**

"Where is he?"

"I don't know what you're talking about."

"You're lying! You know where he is!"

The shouts from within the room began perking the interest of bystanders in the hospital. They all gathered curiously at the commotion, wondering what exactly was being said in the language they barely understood.

Tyson, Rei and the other teens had to physically elbow their way though the masses of people in an attempt to get to the source of the fuss.

"Could someone _please_ tell me what the hell's going on?" Tyson spoke in an almost hysterical tone of voice.

"Well," Spencer started, keeping a firm pace beside his teammates and the Bladereakers, "after the four of you had run off, I stayed behind with Kenny and Ian, seeing as they obviously couldn't keep up. A few minutes later, Kai stalked past from the direction you had come from, he didn't say anything, didn't even seem like he noticed us standing there. We just thought that … I guess we're just so used to being snubbed by Kai that it seems almost natural. But no ten minutes after he had gone out of sight did an orderly run up to us, rambling on about a scary blue haired kid trying to kill Dr. Olga. So I sent Ian and Kenny to get you guys and I came to investigate."

"So what did you discover?"

"Nothing much, except for the fact that trying to get past a battalion of people is a bitch, even for me."

"And that little piece of information will help us how?" Bryan threw a glare in his direction.

"_Anyway,_" Rei coughed, "lets not start bickering and think about what we're going to do."

"How about get past all these people before we all get trampled in a stampede."

After much huffing, puffing and shoving, the remaining Bladebreakers and Demolition Boys finally managed to push their way through the spectators. By the time they reached the door, the situation inside seemed to have receded, and they ears could only catch the sounds of silence.

"You don't think Kai's actually … you know," Max stuttered out, almost afraid to hear what the others had to say.

"Only one way to find out," Rei took a deep breath and placed his hand on the doorknob, twisting it slightly until a light click was heard before pushing it open, slowly. Even Bryan held his breath for half a second, wondering what kind of scene would meet their eyes.

The people around attempted to peer into the room, but the presence of the tall teens in front of them blocked their view.

"On three," Rei took a deep breath, "One … two … three," he mumbled the last number and pushed open the door.

**o-o-o-o**

"Are you positive that everything is in order and there will be no more mistakes like the last time? I warn you now; I dislike being made a fool of by my own people, least of all a bunch of immature bladers who would be nothing without me. Understood?"

"Yes, sir," the man stuttered out a reply and scurried off from under Boris' intense gaze.

Boris couldn't help but smirk at the amount of fear he had managed to inflict on people just by looking at them, his mother would have been very proud of him. Sparring the man no more thought, he turned back to the other figure inhabiting the room with him.

"How do you feel?" Boris walked over, arrogance in his every step. Circling the person like a hungry vulture, his eyes scanned over his body half naked body, taking in every bruise and every scar that adorned his skin.

"Perfect, Boris, just perfect," he purred seductively, cold blue eyes never looking away from they position, locked firmly with the purple haired man's own.

"That's good," he was the first one to look away, breaking the eye contact. Pulling out a seat on the opposite side of the table, he took seat and began sipping on his Smirnoff.

"I have to say, Boris, you have chose a perfect candidate for me this time around, after all those rejects you shamefully refer to as bladers."

"Many apologies; with the amount of dim-wittedness I have to put up with everyday, it's a surprise that The Abbey had not been ousted long ago. Good help is so hard to find these days."

"I'm sure. And what about this man, Voltaire was it? What was his role in all of this?"

"Voltaire?" Boris could barely hold back a snicker at the mention of the senior Hiwatari, "I needed the money for funding, and he seemed to be just the right man for the job. I can smell a scumbag a mile away."

"What is your next step then? Now that the first phase has been completed, and with much satisfaction I must add."

"I assume that young Kai must be feeling that something's amiss, I can safely say that if everything works out according to plan, we're to expect his arrival anytime now."

The figure said nothing to Boris' comment; instead he took to his feet and walked over to a body length mirror, taking in his own appearance. Tilting his head to a side, he could help but snicker as cold blue eyes looked back at him from under flaming red bangs.

"Very nice, isn't he?" Boris could not keep the lust from seeping out with his words.

"That he is," his eyes stared fixatedly at his reflection. He raised his hand up to his face, running his fingers across the smooth, pale skin, lingering momentarily on the full, peace coloured lips. He licked them deliciously and leaned closer to the image in the mirror, kissing the reflection of it's lips passionately, leaving traces of saliva on the surface of the glass, "This boy is delicious."

"His name is Yuriy Tala Ivanov, master," Boris stated proudly, "and I bred him just for the purpose of serving you … however you want."

"Which you will be rewarded handsomely for, naturally."

"You are too generous," Boris bowed his head low, "Master Black Wolborg."

* * *

**End Part 12.**

If by the end of this, the four words running through your heads are short, half-assed and crappy, then don't be afraid to say so. I haven't written this for quite a while that I've forgotten some important parts of the plot o.O … like the existence of Sacha for one thing. This was also kind off my way of telling the readers and reviewers (and partially, myself) that this story is not dead, nor dying. It's very much alive, just having a late growth spurt. By the way, if you think some of the plot lines keeps on changing or is not consistent, please tell me.

Thanks to everyone who read and reviewed the last chapter. You're reviews are my drug. I will TRY to have the next chapter out soon.

Ps - I know I originally wrote the lady doctors' name as Kyznetsov, but due to some research, I discovered that if you're the daughter of Mr. Kyznetsov, you'll be Kyznetsova. I think ... correct me if I'm wrong, ne?

Review.


	12. Mind of the Twisted

_Standard disclaimer applies._

Due to a series of overwhelming trouble I'm having with As the Fire Burns, I've become quite insane really and now I've decided to take your advice and make this into one chapter. Unless he's being bossed around by Tala, no one cared for Boris anyway.

Last thing; in my story, Tala would be seventeen, Kai is sixteen. Boris, I don't really know his age, but I would expect him to be in his late forties, early fifties.

This chapter takes place before the events in the twelfth chapter.

**As the Fire Burns.  
Part 13: Mind of the Twisted.**

-----

"Indeed, that is good to hear. Yes, keep up the good work, Yelena," a triumphant smirk curled at the corner of Boris' lips and he placed the receiver back in it's place. Casting his eyes away from the phone, he left the office in thunderous echoes of his footsteps, his long coat billowing behind him as the door slammed shut.

Everything was currently working out much like he had anticipated, perhaps even more so, and this made him a very happy person, which is why he decided to pay a visit to one of the people who had made it possible.

Tala.

Reaching his destination, Boris grasped the handle of the door, sliding it open in a screech of rusted metal. The sound nearly made him cringe, but he managed to keep himself in check as he entered. Ordering all the doctors and assistants out of the room, Boris walked over to the single bed that was placed in the middle of the room, his eyes scanning over the unconscious figure that lay upon it, taking in the sight of his ashen face, it's paleness only enhanced by the lighting in the room. His flaming red hair was spread out around his head like a halo.

Boris could not tear his eyes away from the sight, his hand unconsciously moving to stoke his smooth skin, trailing across his cheek, down the side of his jaw and lingered on his pale lips. The director stood unmoving in that position for a long moment, his eyes unblinking; he couldn't not get over just how beautiful Tala looked at that exact moment, just like his mother.

"Svetlana …" he muttered softly to himself, his mind drifting back to the one person in this life that he had ever cared for. But that was the past and what had happened then, was better to remain in the past … but the more he looked at Tala, the more he felt as if he was being sent back to relive it once more.

_'It seemed like an eternity ago …'_

- - - - -

**_Boris POV  
Russia, 1982._**

_- - - - - _

_The cold, winter day of Russia I spent downing as much alcohol as I possibly could. I lounged around one of the bars, the only one that would still allow me entrance. Perhaps it was the fact that I did not owe them as much as I had the other bars. It was at that time I saw her, walking across the street from where I was. Her hands were desperately trying to hold down her red hair that was being blown violently by a sudden gush of wind, the few strands that refused to be tamed however, kept whipping about her face. I couldn't hold back a chuckle, which she saw my amused face through the glass of the bar, I noticed, when she abruptly glared at me. _

_Taking a final sip of my drink, how the bitter taste lingered on my tongue, I took to my feet and walked over to her. Standing by and watching a damsel in distress was never something I took lightly. As I reached up to her, I couldn't help but to find the situation somewhat amusing. Here is an attractive woman, one hand trying desperately to keep her wild hair under control, her other one attempting to keep her modesty under her skirt, I've always wondered how a woman could wear something so skimpy in a temperature so cold, while clutching a thick file under her armpit. _

_She noticed my presence soon enough when a laugh managed to escape my lips. Giving me a heated glare, she resumed her task, without much success. Taking pity on the poor soul, I quickly grabbed the file and stood as a barrier between her and the oncoming winds, giving her time to tie up her hair and pull her skirt back down. Seeing that she had everything under control, I returned the file to her, to which I received a hasty 'thank you' before she turned around and walked away, without even giving me a name._

_  
Never would I have imagined that such an innocent meeting would have eventually turned my life completely around._

_- -_

**_Russia_****_, 1984._**

_- -_

_The next time I laid eyes on the red headed damsel, two years had passed, I had just turned thirty the day before and was on my way out to the bars to get drunk, again. You tend to do that when you're a nearing middle-aged man without a wife or children, with no job and are on the verge of getting evicted from your house. _

_It happened as I was lounging in the high stool, looking across the dirty, grimy floors of the run down establishment; I noticed a very sexy pair of legs walking in through the doors. I never forgot a pair of long, smooth legs like hers. My eyes started to travel up her body, watched quietly as she surveyed her surroundings from behind black lenses glassed. She seemed to be looking for someone. A few minutes later, she spotted the person she had been looking for and walked up to her. I would be lying if I didn't say that seeing a woman of her standards in a place of this standard was odd to say the least. _

_I was careful not to make a sound while I snuck up to listen in on their conversation. That was when I noticed that the person she had come to meet was not a person at all. I did not know what he was. _

_My eyes widened when they fell on him, looking into his blood-red eyes sent a shiver up my spine. His teeth, or more specifically, his fangs were yellowing and dripping with saliva, from what I saw off his face, it was black, and the skin seemed to be peeling off. I could not help but shudder. The creature wore a thick, black cloak and I did not even want to imagine what he would look like beneath it._

_My eyes were too transfixed with his (I assume that it was a his) bizarre appearance that I did not notice when the woman took to her feet and stormed angrily out of the bar, leaving him alone. Ignorance was a curse for me at that exact moment when he turned his head, eyes staring straight into my soul._

_I felt the acidic bile rise up to my throat, but managed to suppress it. Instead, I stood up. I did not know what had possessed me at that moment, but the more I stared into his bloody orbs, the more obvious of just how powerful he was did I realize that I wanted him. I wanted it. _

_It was like a dream, as if my body was moving out of its own free will. My feet moved one after another until I was standing right in front of him. The fear that raged me was overwhelming, but I didn't want to leave. The he opened his mouth, and the sounds that escaped it were not like I had ever heard before. It was like a rough, throaty growl instead of a voice. He spoke to me, told me things about power that I could not even have imagined._

_I listened intently, not once did it occur to me just how strange it actually was for this person to be telling me these things when he did not even know who I was._

_He was a sacred being, intangible and nameless, banished centuries ago for sins. He wanted revenge. He needed revenge, and to do that, he needed someone out there to be his eyes and his ears, to find him the perfect medium. One that would last longer than the one he had taken last time, whose skin was beginning to rot off of his bones. He needed a body that would be well preserved, able to withstand his own inner power and would not die so quickly like the body he currently had. _

_He promised wealth, power and supremacy, the things I had longed for since I was younger. I don't know what influenced me, but I found myself volunteering to support him and his cause. I was accepted instantaneously, convinced that he saw the potential in me. He told me about the woman, Svetlana was her name, how she had looked for him, she had freed him, she would have helped him with her last breath, but she was just that, a woman. He needed someone who would not betray him, and that woman had those qualities._

_Then, did I not? I thought no more of the matter, for all I cared; everything had begun at that moment. The key to unlock my darkest fantasies was finally turned, and I became who I am today. I left the worthless vagabond part of me behind and moved forward to become Boris Balkov. _

-----

**Boris POV.  
Russia, Winter of 1985.**

- - - - -

_If you had told me three years ago that I would end up running one of the most revered Beyblade facility in Russia, I would have told you that you were absolutely mad. But here I am. In just one year, with the help of my Master, I have managed to upgrade myself from mere street beggar to the most important figure in the Russian Beyblade circuit. With the promise of loyalty, my Master has indeed rewarded me handsomely. He has given me everything I could have ever dreamed off, power, wealth, and reverence, even a new identity. _

_Boris Balkov. An unknown, unnamed corpse found by the side of the road. His flesh had been completely rotted off of his bones. His face so badly decomposed that identification was all but possible and his organs had been completely torn out of his chest. The fear of an unidentified killer who tortures his victims before tearing them apart from the inside out, caused rumours to travel around town; telling the story of a monster._

_I paid them no heed because I knew the real story. The old had been discarded to make way for the new. I had become Boris Balkov, the only one, and my purpose was to find my Master the perfect body to contain his incorporeal spirit._

_The next year after our first meeting, I began thinking of the perfect candidate, but none came to mind. I knew I had to build it myself, create it out of nothing. The prospect of a very god-like accomplishment excited me to no end. I had done many experiments then, but most of the subjects died or suffered irreparable damage. After much pondering, I was struck by a brainstorm: ice and fire._

_Two elements that would never die … could never truly be destroyed. I knew that for my plan to be a success, I needed to give my Master one of these two, if not both of these elements; the element of fire, for its ability to last forever and ice, for its capability to preserve. If fire could be preserved, frozen, then once released, its power would be devastating._

_My now only consisted of pleasing my master and as the years passed, the memory of my former self slowly vanished. It was like a chisel taken to an ice block, little by little; the outer layer was being broken off, it's core melted away and evaporated into thin air. Bit by bit, I became what my master had moulded me to become, a slave. I became Boris Balkov, a body without a mind, or a soul; another mindless corpse with the ability to walk and to talk, but devoid of free will._

_But that all didn't matter anymore, after all, what was free will when you could have power?_

_My opinions was completely reassessed, however, just months after when I ran into her once more. It was the same place, same situation that I found her in the first time, when I drove down the road in my Mercedes Benz. How things have changed. She hadn't, on the other hand. She still looked completely the same as the last time I saw her with my Master. Her red hair was still being whipped around her face by the strong winds._

_I ordered my driver to stop the car, walking up to lend a helping hand to her as I had nearly three years ago. To my shock, I discovered that she still remembered me, even though our first meeting was abrupt. With much courtesy, I offered her a ride to her destination, even going as far as to invite her for a drink. She accepted._

_Thus, if the key was the one that had unlocked my inner most desires, this was the hand that pushed open the door._

_- - - - - _

**_Russia_****_, Christmas of 1986._**

_- - - - -_

_Those past years had been something out of a dream for me. I had become one of the most successful men in Russia. My name struck fear into the hearts of many and I had become the one thing I would never have expected to become: a father. On the eve of Christmas, late in nineteen eighty-six, my son was born. He looked exactly like his mother, his flaming red hair framing his chubby face. I would not be lying to say that it was my point in life with I was very proud of. _

_But then, everything changed one day, when my Master called me to his chamber. He had told me then that my son would be the perfect candidate for the experimentation. Master said he could see it in his eyes. His icy-blue orbs shone with greatness and power, all the qualities needed for my Master to reach his full potential._

_I could do nothing but agree. After all, what was family when given the chance at ultimate power?_

_- - - - -_

**_Russia_****_, 1989._**

_- - - - -_

_I did it. I have performed the ultimate sacrifice for my Master. I killed her, Svetlana. My wife, the mother of my child and the woman I had grown to love. I did it all in the name of power. I took her to the back of the house and shot her. Her death was quick and painless. I wonder whether she will forgive me when I am cast down to spend an eternity in the fiery depths of hell?_

_I then took my young son (he was three then); Svetlana had insisted that he be named Yuriy, after her grandfather. I agreed. He did seem like a Yuriy, even when he was a little baby._

_Master, on the other hand, thought it was not a name he would have chosen if it were his young. He would have named him Tala. It was a strong name, a name that meant 'Wolf' in a native Red Indian language. A wolf, which was the form my Master had taken the shape of when he was still one of the Sacred Beings. It was what my Master wanted. What more was I to do other than naming him Yuriy Tala Balkov?_

- - - - -

Boris POV.

_I took him, then … my son, to the place my master had ordered me to built. Disguising it as an abbey, those Russian fools would never even know the difference. I thought him how to Beyblade. I drove the belief of strength into him, told him that to be strong was the key to being alive and he never questioned me. With intense experimentation and testing, eventually I successfully managed to wipe the knowledge of my relation to him out of his mind; Master told me that for him to be strong enough, he needed to be rid the pitiful human emotions._

_I succeeded … and yet, somewhere in the back of my mind, I had hoped otherwise._

_But, as I would soon discover, success, does not come without its hardships. First it was that fool, Kyznetsov who had dared to threaten me by taking my actions to the police. Though it was just a minor stumble that I had managed to fix without any trouble, it did put a serious damper on the joy. Sometime later, I had met with the wealthy businessman, Voltaire, did everything finally take off … then began falling back to earth soon after._

_Kai._

_The name that brought much joy and pain whenever it comes to mind. The final key that could have been the deciding point in my success was, in the end, the one who destroyed it._

_I underestimated his influence on Tala; failed to see the bond that was growing between them and before I knew it, Tala was no longer mine. He defied me; talked back to me. It was all because of Kai Hiwatari. But the plan was already too far in motion to be halted, so I had to learn to tolerate the boys' presence. _

_Soon after, the day came when I had managed to successfully create the perfect body for my master, the form that resembled his own in the previous life, the power that he had one time wielded, unopposed. That was the day my master regained his name as Black Wolborg._

_In his shadow, I had created three more powerful beasts; modelled them after my master and gave them to Tala and that wretched boy, Kai._

_Wolborg and Dranzer … and Black Dranzer. _

_I still do not know what had inspired me to create the eviller half of Dranzer. But my master had not apposed of it. _

_For the ability to control these powerful beasts, I had surgically implanted two identical chips into Tala and Kai, connected the mechanical devices right into their brain stem. It was now a part of them, as they were a part of their sacred beasts. It also allowed me unlimited control over their actions. Unfortunately, one of the flaws in my plans resurfaced the night Kai had managed to escape my detection and attempted to wield Black Dranzer's power without my consent. He had managed to get away, and the chip was never successfully activated. And to activate one chip without the other would be utterly useless._

_My master, Black Wolborg had them retreated into the shadows, leaving me to deal with the set back myself. The power transfer had taken a lot out of him. I vowed that I would not let him down and now … this is the reason I find myself sitting stiffly in this seat, staring dumbly at the unmoving figure that is … was my son._

_I knew that this was the time to act. This was the perfect time to seek revenge against the BBA and the people who supported it, the Beybladers that had caused me the world. I knew, that the only way to do it was to unleash the key. My master was not even near full power and then; I knew that I had no other choice. Not only had I used Tala to spiritually resurrect him, I have now come to the decision that if I wanted to reach the goal I had set for myself, I would have to give Tala to him … his mind and his body … like I had done to get to where I am today. I know that someday, he will thank me for what I had done. Thanked me for the power that I had allowed him. Thanked me for allowing him the pleasure of being one with my master … our master._

_I could not help but run a hand through his hair as those thoughts surfaced in my mind. I looked at his pale, serene face and could not help but envision the face of my Svetlana and how much he had taken after her. I could not help … but lean down and plant a kiss on his pale lips. They were so much like his mother. I saw her face on his and knew that she would have been happy that our son had turned out as he did; it was all thanks to me. I deserved to have him do whatever I wanted. I deserved power. I deserved to own him. _

**End Part 14.******


	13. Getting to the Destination

_Standard disclaimer applies._

**As the Fire Burns.  
Part 14: Getting to the Destination.**

* * *

When we last left off...

- - - - -

"_Only one way to find out," Rei took a deep breath and placed his hand on the doorknob, twisting it slightly until a light click was heard before pushing it open, slowly. Even Bryan held his breath for half a second, wondering what kind of scene would meet their eyes._

_The people around attempted to peer into the room, but the presence of the tall teens in front of them blocked their view._

"_On three," Rei took a deep breath, "One… two… three," he mumbled the last number and pushed open the door._

_- - - - -_

The sudden clicking sound as the door was flung open startled the two occupants of the room, before Rei, Bryan and the rest of their team rushed in, ready to attempt to restrain Kai if the need arose.

"Oh, look, the chain gang's all here," Kai said sarcastically, eyes glancing over to the new arrivals for a moment before turning back to the woman before him, "but getting back to a more serious matter," his tone of voice dripped of venom as he walked menacingly closer to the doctor, "You know where he is... where _it _is, and I make you tell me if it's the last thing I do."

"I would gladly, but I don't know what you're talking about!" she shouted back, feeling quite afraid of the glowering teen. It was the boy she had come to be familiar with and treated, yet, completely different.

"What are you doing, Kai?" Tyson would have rushed forward if Rei's hand didn't clamp down on his shoulder and he was regarded coolly by the teen.

"If you calmed down and told us the whole story, Kai, we would all be able to help."

"Help?" Kai gave a sinister laugh, "What can a bunch of pathetic, amateur bladers do to help? Go to Mr. Dickinson for advice? Call the police?" he said in a condescending tone, glaring at the raven-haired Neko-jin.

"No, but if you just told us-"

"Then you can find Tala, bring him back and make him feel all better?" the Kai scoffed, but his eyes gave away the emotion whirling in his very soul, "Can you cure him even if he's dying?" he spoke seriously, locking gazes with Rei.

"What the hell are you talking about," Bryan seemed to have had enough, "How would you know if Tala's dying? You don't even know where he is."

"Yes I do," Kai smirked, turning his attention to the lilac haired Falborg master, "Tala and I, we share a special connection; one that none of you can ever dream of having. I know were he is and how he is, the only set back is that I have never been allowed to find out the place's location, but she does," he pointed to the startled Dr. Olga, "Her father was one of Boris' lackeys, and he was the attending doctor at Tala's birth."

Everyone seemed to have lost the ability to speak, even the doctor whose mouth opened and closed like a fish out of water, "Kai-" she started, but was halted.

"Last chance, doctor... what is your final answer," Kai's hand reached into his pocket and pulled out his launcher and the black beyblade in his possession.

"I don't know, Kai. I swear! My father never told me anything about that, the only thing he left me was Tala's file!" she almost pleaded, and, it seemed, the pleas were not wasted when Kai lowered his launcher.

"Show me," he growled, never taking his eyes off of her as she searched frantically though he cupboards until her hand came into contact with the brown, paper-back file, which she handed over to Kai.

Bryan and the others were on their toes, ready to take action is anything seemed to be taking a turn for the worse.

Kai ignored all of them, setting his eyes on the neat writing of the contents of the file; looking over the picture of young Tala and his statistics until his gaze finally came to rest on the address written in the third paragraph. Letting a smirk flash over his face, he turned back to the doctor, "It seems that you're spared for now, doctor," and dropped the file back onto her table before turning to leave.

"Wait, Kai-" Rei said quickly. He could not make head or tails of what was happening, and even though he found it unlikely that Kai would willingly divulge information, he decided to give it a shot anyway.

"You can come with me, if you chose," the slate haired teen answered before the question left Rei's lips, "but all and any inquiries will be completely ignored."

Sharing a look with Bryan, who nodded in agreement of his silent ask for approval, he nodded his own head and moved to follow Kai.

"I still don't know what the hell's going on!" Tyson nearly grasped his hair in frustration at being left in the dark, as he watched his companions disappear out the door one by one.

"Then follow quietly!" Ian snapped. He too was confused, and this made Tyson's incessant whining even more annoying than it usually is.

For once, Tyson decided to oblige.

- - - - -

Stanley Dickinson was normally a man of peace and tranquillity. He rarely lost his temper (unless he came face to face with Voltaire Hiwatari) and he never, ever felt intense hatred for anyone, no matter what they'd done.

But at this very moment, Stanley Dickinson found himself harbouring a very deep hatred for the driver of the taxi he was currently occupying. It didn't help that he'd received a frantic phone call from one of his men at the hospital telling him that Kai had gone completely whacked (not in the specific choice of words) and had locked himself in the room with Dr. Olga, apparently he'd brought with him an axe and a big white sheet, but Mr. Dickinson decided to chalk that one up to hysteria.

"Could you go a little faster?" he put as much restraint in his words as he could, trying not to shout profanities at the man who was currently preoccupied with his cell phone and going at the insane speed of thirty kilometres per-hour.

"And risk getting pulled over?" he asked in a thick Russian accent, eying the old man in the back seat disdainfully.

Mr. Dickinson cast a look behind him to the rows of honking cars that were held up behind the taxi and grit his teeth. His current predicament was probably caused by the fact that he'd refused to pay the insane amount the driver had initially charged him, insisting that it was far to ridiculous for the distance he was going.

Taking a deep breath, Mr. Dickinson forced himself to calm down and at that moment, made up his mind, "I'll pay you twice what you asked if you can get me to the hospital in five minutes."

Instantly, the cell phone was left forgotten on the passenger seat and the driver regarded him with a large grin, "Why did you not say it sooner?" before he lowered to third gear and floored the pedal. Mr. Dickinson didn't have anytime to buckle up and felt himself sinking deeper into the seat as the pull of gravitation made itself known. The bright yellow taxi literally flew across the road dodging on coming traffic and pedestrians by a hair width.

The only thing Mr. Dickinson though to do at that moment was say his prayers and hope to dear lord that he would live long enough to prim his beloved banzai tree.

* * *

**End Part 14.**


	14. Mind Games

_Standard disclaimer applies_. 

_See below for authors note.  
_

**As the Fire Burns.**  
**Part 15: Mind Games.**

* * *

Sacha was feeling very lonely and afraid. The guards had come to take away Tala quite a while ago and he'd not seen a presence of any sort of living organism since then (if you didn't count the fungus growing on the walls a living organism of course). He didn't know how Tala was doing or what was being done to him; he just hoped that his redheaded idol was all right and that someone would come to rescue them soon.

Too caught up in his own thoughts he was, that he didn't seem to notice when the door to the dungeons were opened and a shadow figure walked in. The dignity in his inaudible strides were apparent, his head held high; eyes clouded and shadowed by the dark of his surroundings but the shine of the blue ors were still like a frozen flame in the darkness.

"Sacha"

His head snapped up when the familiar, smooth voice reached his ears, "Tala?"

The figure stepped forward; the dim rays of the flashbulb that was the only source of light in the entire room washed over him, illuminating his flaming red hair, "Yes...it's me."

"But how...did you manage to escape? Did you-" Sacha was silent when Tala, who had moved with much stealth and speed that he never thought possible for a mere mortal, appeared in front of him and put a hand to the younger boys' mouth, silencing any more inquiries.

"Quiet," Tala'a eyes shot towards the door to make sure that they had not been overheard by any of the guards, "We need to get out of here quickly before some realizes that I'm gone."

Sacha nodded his head.

Satisfied with the boy's agreement, Tala pulled his hand away and stood up, walking over towards the metal locks of the bars that separated him from Sacha. With a flick of his wrist, he did something to the locks that Sacha's eyes could not see and one moment later, a muffled breaking sound was heard before the locks fell to the ground in a clutter of broken steel.

"How--"

"Ask questions later, first we need to get out of here."

Grabbing the younger boy in his hand, Tala half dragged him towards the door since he seemed much to dazed by the current events to be able to do such a feat himself.

"How are we going to get out? I don't think the guards are just going to sit idly by while we waltz out of here."

Sparing him a half smirk, Tala spoke in a low tone, "Not that they'd have any choice in the matter…now what did I tell you about worrying that pretty little head of yours?"

"Did they do something to you in there, Tala? Because you're acting pretty strange," casting a look over the tall teen, Sacha hoped that Tala would look down to meet his eyes; a wistful thought on his behalf.

There was just something about the way he spoke, the way he carried himself that seemed nothing like the Tala's he'd come to idolize. His mother had always whined to him about 'women's intuition' whenever she's caught him doing something he wasn't supposed to be doing. He'd earlier brushed off her words to the 'wise words of a mother' files he kept tucked in the back of his mind, but at this moment, he decided that there might just be something to it.

Tala was not Tala, and he had the tingling feeling in the pit of his stomach to prove it.

- - - - -

"Would someone please, be a good soul and key me into _what the hell_ is going on!"

"Keep your cool, my dear boy. I'm sure there is an explanation to all of this," even though Mr. Dickenson attempted to put on a knowing and calm façade, everyone knew the current turn of events had put him in an awkward situation as well. One can only imagine what was running though his mind as he walked into the hospital and come across 'Dark Kai', as Tyson had come to label him.

The events that had occurred in Dr. Olga's office had left them baffled and sent a million questions running though their minds. Now, the five Bladebreakers, Mr. Dickinson and three remaining members of the Demolition Boys, currently boarding the first express bus they could find towards whatever destination Kai was taking them to could do nothing besides stare at the back of Kai head as he gave directions to the driver. If anything, the fact that Kai had voluntarily chosen to sit at the front of the bus was already an indication of how the oddity of everything was becoming too overwhelming.

First it was the incident at the World Championships and Tala's freaky 'the Omen' moment, then it was discovering Kai's amnesia just as the news of Tala's demise reached their ears. The final kicker was finding that it wasn't indeed Tala who had died, but Sacha whom seemed to have disappeared off the face of the earth after the finals and now, Kai regaining his memories only to warp into --what seems like his old self but worse. And just the reality that they've just commandeered some poor tourist's sight-seeing bus to go to 'Boris' house' was only the cherry on the apple pie. Someone up there must be having a good laugh.

"Sit down and shut up while you still have the ability to do so by your own will."

Tyson immediately obliged.

"Things are getting so out of hand," Rei sighed, running his fingers through his wild black hair, "sometimes makes we wish that I'd followed my mothers' advice and become a pastry chef after all."

"Don't give up so easily, Rei. I'm sure everything will work out in the end. We'll find Tala in one piece and Kai's going to be back to the old grumpystiltskins he always is. You'll see."

"But what about the kid?" Tyson seemed utter his first serious comment of the day. "I mean…can we go on knowing that…you know…" trailing off, be knew that the others understood the meaning behind his words.

Silence gripped them and neither opted to be the first to break it. Breaking apart from the little circle they'd created, each returned to their seats, heavy thoughts weighed down in their minds.

Kai, ignoring the looks and hushed whispering from behind him, kept his eyes firmly on the frost covered road, not trying to suppress the imposing aura that he emitted and not attempting to comfort the cowering driver sitting just a foot away. Kai suspected that if the man wasn't so much in arms reach, he'd probably thrown himself out the door the first chance he got. He mattered the most to him was to get to Tala as soon as he could.

The tingling feeling of his chip vibrating slowly in his neck had yet to subside. He knew that Boris had done something, but whether it was to Tala or using Tala, he didn't know. What he knew for certain was that the maniacal director need to be stopped, and soon.

He reached his hand into the side pocket of his pants and pulled out Black Dranzer's blade. Running his fingers over the shiny and now empty bit chip on the blade, his blood-red eyes narrowed into slits.

He'd heard Bryan's comment as he was leaving the room and could barely hold back a snide chuckle at his deluded conclusion. He wasn't Black Dranzer. He was still Kai. The only difference now is that he's…free.

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**End Part 15.**

Someone help me. I need help on As the Fire Burns badly! My planning and plots are all going down the drain and I've been siphoning empty, dumb and useless ideas until my brain is running dry. I'm almost half considering going back and doing a complete revamping and maybe deleting the Boris chapters, but that will probably put me in a complete whack! I don't know how to continue, the plot so far going is almost as ridiculous as the hatch in Lost (but I love it anyway) and guuuuuh--brain meltdown!

_--Five seconds later--_

Now that I've sit down calmly to consider it, I've decided to take the three empty, boring Boris chapters, edit it and turn it into one, therefore chapter 16 is now chapter 14 and the new chapter is 15. Yes, I still do care about reviews, but at this moment, the whole As the Fire Burns trouble is bothering me too much to…well, _care_. Someone please PM me with ideas, now; as soon as you possibly can. I'll accept all and any suggestions if it'll assist in putting me on the right track. I'm so baffled right now; I need to YuKa fanservice to calm my raging nerves.

Excuse me while I go have some vicodin.


	15. Meeting Up is Hard to Do

_Standard disclaimer applies_.

OMG! Is it? Yes, it is! It's a shockingly surprising and totally unplanned or expected update! I even shock myself sometimes, you know.

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**As the Fire Burns  
**_Part 16: Meeting Up is Hard to Do_

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Through the thick snow the bus ventured; the tyre tracks left in the snow were quickly covered back up by the snowflakes that rained down, leaving no trace that anyone had disturbed the tranquility. The wind had picked up sometime during the trip; the white fluffy mass blowing against the windscreen reduced the visibility level down to nearly zero and yet the vehicle did not stop.

The atmosphere aboard the vehicle was tense and the uncomfortable silence gripping. The occupants, all equally ensnared in the web of confusion could do nothing more than share questioning looks among one another. The only two people, whose loss in the current events that unfolded was equal to the rest but were doing a much better job at hiding it were Rei and Bryan.

Sitting, in a turn of event that would have shocked everyone on any other day, side by side and caught up in what seemed to be an intense conversation under their breath, both would shoot unreadable looks at the back of Kai's head from time to time. Though it seemed that Rei was the one who seemed to be doing the most talking while Bryan listened in; the usual look of indifference occupying his face but he seemed to be intently listening to whatever Rei was saying.

"Am I the only one who finds Rei and Bryan conversing civilly to be completely whacked?" said Tyson bemused.

"You prefer them to be trying to murder each other then?" Ian countered cynically.

"No...it's just...well, whacked. Like watching an episode of Discovery Channel and seeing the crocodile playing pin the tail on the wildebeest instead of eating it."

"Likening Bryan to the crocodile or the wildebeest, pray tell?"

"Which do you think? He'd a rabid, inhumane, ferocious, cold-blooded, albino be--acon!" Tyson, so entranced in his thoughts, failed to notice said rabid, inhumane, ferocious, cold-blooded, albino bacon come up behind him until his warm breath blew across the base of his exposed neck.

"Bacon, Granger? I have to say, I've been called a lot of things in my life, but never bacon...and to say that I don't appreciate it would be an understatement, especially coming from a porker like you."

"P-Porker?!" Tyson spluttered indignantly. He knew that everyone frequently made cracks regarding his weight, but no one had ever downright called him a porker. Sure, Kenny had on more than one occasion, in his own opinion, _subtly _suggested Tyson go on a diet. Rei and Max had been a bit more direct, but Kai on the other hand...Tyson didn't fail to notice the times when the waiter had brought his order _with _the side of vegetables when he'd specifically told them not to. He'd also not failed to notice that the times the waiters did that was when they'd had an encounter with Kai. But seeing as it was still food and was still occupying his plate, Tyson reluctantly lapped it up anyway.

"Yeah. You got a problem with that?" eyeing Tyson intently, Bryan dared his to make another comment.

Tyson pouted and immediately quieted down, a sudden memory seemingly leaping into his mind.

Hearing an exasperated sigh, the boys turned their attention to Rei who came up quietly from behind Bryan. "To think I expected fruits of labour by sending you down here with our theory. What was I thinking?" he rolled his eyes at Bryan's smirk.

"It's in my nature to be a sadistic and insulting bastard. I was traumatized at a young age. Cut me some slack why don't you?"

"Yeah, sure," deciding not to go along with Bryan's goading, Rei turned to the expectant stares of the rest. "So Bryan and I were talking--"

"Oooh, so _that _was what you two were doing," interrupted Ian snidely.

"--and we're come up with a small theory that I think might be of interest," Rei continued as if there hadn't been any interruptions. "So, you guys should already have suspected that Kai and Tala have some sort of connection between them, right?"

Everyone nodded, except Tyson.

"And from what Bryan's told me, Boris has something to do with it."

Everyone looked on at Rei, their faces displaying an expression that can clearly be described as 'duh' at the rather obvious assumption.

"Mr. Dickinson, you remember the conversation we had sometime before the championships, about the matching scar Tala and Kai have on the back of their necks?" Rei directed his attention to the elderly man, who nodded in affirmative.

"There was a couple of times, during training or just sometimes when I walked past Boris' office, then I heard him saying something about a couple of microchips," Bryan chipped in. "Without going out on a limb here, I dare that said scars house the aforementioned chips."

"So judging from how Kai's been acting, saying that he knows where Tala is and _how _he is, we're willing to be our life on the probability that these chips are the connecting point between them. It must be the tip of the mother-of-all-plans iceberg that Boris has cooked up. Who knows what kind of evilness resides within that twisted cranium of his."

"Or perverted. I swear, he has pictures of Tala pinned up in his closet. No doubt so that he can jerk off to them, the sick asshole."

"We also have reasons to believe that Kai and Tala's bit-beast have some big part to play in all this as well, we just don't know what to make of it."

Silence grabbed the fifth row of the Explorer tour bus. Glances were exchanged as everyone tried to make out what they're just heard.

"Wow," Tyson muttered.

"Exactly how I'd originally summed it up," said Rei.

"Dude, now you're even finishing each other's sentences!" Tyson squealed as if Rei had never spoken. "If that isn't the freakiest freak show ever, then I'm a monkey's uncle!"

Everyone decided to just ignore Tyson at that moment.

"You both have made a remarkable deduction. I personally can see no reason to argue. It all makes so much sense, and yet at the same time, does not," leaning back in his chair, Mr. Dickinson took a deep breath. Everything was suddenly becoming too overwhelmingly complicated. He would bet his hat that the Mr. Monopoly chap he was so frequently confused for, had it so much easier, and for once since he'd first heard that name, he wished that he _was _Mr. Monopoly.

- - - - -

"Are you sure we're going to the right way, because it seems obviously obvious that we're lost," Sacha whined for the umpteenth time since their escape.

Though Tala ignored his words and wore a surprisingly good mask of indifference, in truth, he was getting a more than a little peeved off at the constant stream of repetitive questions.

"Maybe we should stop somewhere and ask directions."

Had it not been for his self control, Tala probably would have strangled the shorter boy with his two hands, especially given their inviting situation; trekking through the snow covered woods (no witnesses). The crunching of accumulated snow beneath their boots was the only sound that joined the frequent howls that echoed through the deserted woods. They had safely managed to escape the compounds of Boris' house shockingly unharmed.

They had crept out through the small window that was the only source of light in the maze of passages that made up Boris' basement. Tala had crept through first and finally pulled Sacha before the both of them made a break towards freedom. There had been no guards roaming the halls, no blinking red lights that signaled cameras nor were there any signs of another living, breathing soul in a hundred meter radius of their area. As their crawled their way through the metal fence (that hadn't even been wired with electricity! Sacha had a right mind to be mildly disappointed) the younger boy had dared to throw a glance back to the place where he'd been kept.

The sight that met his eyes was astounding. A large, black palace stood in the place of his imagined shack. The walls painted with rows of towering windows. It was like something out an old age painting. It loomed in the background like a sinister presence, even against the white, almost serene background of snow. Just the sight of the place alone renewed Sacha's spirit that maybe; just maybe, everything wasn't quite so disappointing after all.

He'd spoken to soon, it seemed, as the slow and tiresome trek though the woods seemed uneventful, boring even. He'd at least expected some resistance, maybe a hound dog or two. The way he saw it, neither of their escape even tweaked irritation in Boris (if he knew that they'd escaped, of course).

"You know, if I didn't know any better, I'd say that Boris has something up his sleeve, letting us go just like this. The whole situation just reeks 'evil plan'," he air quoted with his fingers.

"You talk too much," Tala said in a low and threatening tone, but Sacha didn't seem to notice.

"I mean, you'd think he'd unleash a few of his hell hounds to track us down, or at the very least put out a full search through the woods. Wikipedia always mentions just what a meticulous person he is, but he isn't showing any signs of that, seriously. I'd even say--" the sudden, stinging burn in his left cheek and the force that caused it sent Sacha flying to the ground. Big, shocked eyes turned up to look into Tala's cold, emotionless ones.

"I didn't ask you to _say _anything," Tala growled menacingly.

Sacha could only watch on agape at his idol, his uncharacteristic reaction and the rage burning in his eyes. None of the pictures Sacha had googled up of his idol, no matter during blading or just pictures of his as he was, ever showed such ferocity. All the fanlistings and the livejournal communities he'd joined described Tala and a calm and collected person; Sacha even knew that from personal experience, but this Tala standing before him. His face, his hair and posture all belonged to Tala. He was standing so close to was Sacha sat, but it seemed like he was untouchable...a million miles out of reach.

"S-Sorry," he managed to stutter out, getting to his feet and dusting the snow off his pants.

Tala spared him a long gaze in silence before turning on his heels and continuing on the journey. Sacha only rejoined him after a moments hesitation, this time, instead of the excited chatter while walking before the tall Tala, he opted to walk a step behind and stayed in silence, all while wondering what had happened to his idol.

- - - - -

The winds had changed direction, Max noticed absentmindedly as his gaze remained on the passing landscape. The branches of the leafless trees swayed towards North, following the path they were on. At least, Max thought it to be North. He was never good with directions; he didn't know how to give them or how to take them. In that sense, he was just like his father. Both were absolutely horrible with locations and the act for locating where it was. Now was no exception.

The trees that lined the road all looked the same. The snow blanketed any sort of markings that might be a clue, even the winds refused to cooperate. He could have said that they'd gone in the direction the wind was blowing, but that idea had been, well, blown away with the wind. After the little pow-wow they had a few minutes ago, everyone had returned to their seats in an awkward silence.

Max suspected that Kai knew and heard every single detail of what was being said, but the fact that he did nothing to intervene rebuked his suspicion, but that didn't deter Max from keeping his full and undivided attention on his captain. At least, that was until Tyson unceremoniously plopped himself down in the empty seat beside Max.

"I got a couple at the vending machine before we left," he whispered closely to Max's ear, brandishing a couple of candy bars.

Thus, Kai was no longer the keeper of Max's full and undivided attention.

"You're a life saver, Tyson!" Max chirped happily, snatching the candy bar clean out of Tyson's grasp with the speed of a striking cobra.

"Yeah, we sure need one of those now, don't we?" he said in a moment of uncharacteristic solemn.

Max paused inches from taking a bite. "You know, Tyson," he said quietly. "There have been times when I just wished none of this every happened. Like...it isn't that I regret it or anything, but sometimes I think that things would have been easier if we hadn't joined the Regional tournament in the first place. We wouldn't have met Kai or Rei or went to compete in the championships. Things would have turned out just so much simpler, wouldn't it?"

"Yeah..." replied Tyson absentminded. "But then again, we wouldn't have met Kai or Rei or went on to complete in the championships," he repeated, flashing Max and small smile.

"And we wouldn't have become world champs."

"Now that's a scary thought!"

Both laughed at Tyson's comment.

"You're right. I suppose we'll just have to get thought this one way or another. After all, Bladebreakers are supposed to stick together."

"You said it, buddy."

"Stop the bus!"

The moment of peace and calm resignation was brought to a screeching halt along with the skidding bus. All attention snapped to the front where Kai was on his feet, eyes focused yet attention looking out into the endless white horizon.

The sun was beginning to set, casting an eerie orange glow over the frosty landscape. Nothing seemed out of the ordinary beyond that, and yet Kai had a look on his face as if a portal to hell had just opened up right in front of his eyes.

"Open the door," he commanded, his boots thumping on the metal floors as he walked to the doors, waiting for the fearful driver to pull the lever to open it.

All eyes trailed on him as he made his descent, venturing into the blistering cold with nothing but one layer of clothing and a jacket he'd taken from one of the previous passengers. Rei and Bryan shared a look before following close behind.

"Kai?" Rei asked, eyes looking around at the surrounding to spot anything out of the ordinary. His gaze made contact with Bryan who just shrugged.

By this time, nearly everyone had left the warm comforts of the bus, cautiously looking around and trying to find an answer to the confusion plaguing them.

"Kai."

Someone called out, looking at the slate haired teen who was standing just beyond the outline of the white forest.

"What is it, my boy?"

"There's something," Kai said, nose upturned as if sniffing the air. His shoulders were squared and tense, as if he were prepared ready to lunge if the situation called for it. "It's close."

The crunching of snow beneath boots sent Kai twirling on his heels; his hair flicking in the wind. But what caught his gaze made his eyes widen and his jaw drop.

"Tala."

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I will finish this story soon. I will finish this story soon. I will finish this story soon It's a promise!

Review.


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